by WILL FOLKS
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A South Carolina solicitor staring down national scrutiny in connection with a high-profile murder case is soon likely to find himself staring down articles of impeachment, sources familiar with the situation have confirmed to FITSNews.
S.C. fifth circuit solicitor Byron Gipson has been getting blasted by national media and crime victims’ advocates for not definitively stating whether he will seek the death penalty against Alexander Devonte Dickey — the career criminal accused of murdering 22-year-old Logan Hailey Federico in Columbia on May 3, 2025.
Gipson’s delay has prompted S.C. attorney general Alan Wilson – the Palmetto State’s top prosecutor – to get involved, specifically dispatching his top death penalty lawyer to the fifth circuit to “advise” on the case.
The prosecution of Federico’s murder has attracted international attention after her father, Stephen Federico, delivered blistering testimony before a U.S. House Judiciary subcommittee in Charlotte, N.C. earlier this week. In his remarks, Federico lit into the Palmetto State’s notorious leniency toward violent criminals – decrying the broken system that led to his daughter being shot and killed by a career criminal with nearly 40 arrests on his record (including 25 felony arrests).
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“He should’ve been in jail for over 140 years … you know how much time he spent in prison?” Federico told lawmakers. “A little over 600 days in 10 years.”
FITSNews has spent nearly a decade blasting this failed system – one which has enabled institutional corruption, shredded the rights of victims, empowered violent criminals and materially eroded public safety. It has also turned the judiciary into little more than a political annex of the legislature (a problem state lawmakers have refused to address).
We’ve done more than just criticize, too… we’ve proposed specific reforms.
Again, though, state lawmakers have failed to act… choosing instead to preserve and protect a system which profits them but utterly fails to protect citizens.
As Federico’s case turns up the heat on the broader issue of judicial reform, many are calling for Gipson’s impeachment.
This week, two members of the U.S. Congress – Nancy Mace of Daniel Island and Ralph Norman of Rock Hill – called on Gipson to be impeached. Norman called on Gipson to be impeached for “neglect of duty,” while Mace used her impeachment call to slam Wilson for allegedly neglecting his duty in overseeing prosecutions across the state.
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39 arrests. 25 felonies. Then set free to allegedly murder Logan Federico.
— Nancy Mace (@NancyMace) October 3, 2025
We are calling on the SC legislature to IMPEACH Solicitor Byron Gipson after his failure in this and other cases.
Alan Wilson waited months before speaking up, and instead of taking action, he sent a… pic.twitter.com/RxwsrzIVeg
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“Alan Wilson didn’t give a damn about this case until it was in the news,” Mace’s spokesperson Piper Gifford said. “He’s a do-nothing, criminal-protecting disgrace to South Carolina. If Wilson really believed this case demanded the ultimate punishment, he wouldn’t have waited until after it was in the news to say it.”
Gifford also slammed Wilson for giving Gipson until next Friday (October 10, 2025) to announce his decision to pursue the death penalty against Dickey.
“Giving the guy until October 10th is a joke,” she said. “It’s time for the legislature to take action and IMPEACH Gipson NOW.”
The S.C. General Assembly is not currently in session – and is not scheduled to return to Columbia until January 13, 2026. However, articles of impeachment are already reportedly being prepared against Gipson by members of the S.C. Freedom Caucus.
Article XV (Section 1) of the S.C. Constitution vests impeachment authority over “officials elected on a statewide basis, state judges, and such other state officers as may be designated by law.” Impeachment requires a two-thirds majority as well as a two-thirds vote of the S.C. Senate to convict and remove from office.
Section 3 of the same article provides for the “removal of officers by (the) governor on address of (the) General Assembly.” Under that section, governors are allowed to remove “any executive or judicial officer” based on a two-thirds votes of each house of the General Assembly “for any willful neglect of duty, or other reasonable cause.”
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RELATED | LOGAN FEDERICO MURDER CASE
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Of interest? Sources familiar with the status of the House impeachment effort say it is not focused on Gipson’s handling of the Federico case, but rather his involvement in the unconstitutional release from prison of gang leader Jeroid J. Price in the spring of 2023.
This shady, backroom deal was exclusively exposed by this media outlet, and the ensuing uproar revived calls for reform of South Carolina’s badly broken judicial system.
To recap: Price had served 19 years of a 35-year “mandatory minimum” prison sentence for the 2003 gang-related nightclub shooting of North Carolina football player Carl Smalls. That’s when retiring S.C. circuit court judge Casey Manning, powerful lawyer-legislator Todd Rutherford and Gipson collaborated to orchestrate his release.
After the state supreme court vacated Manning’s extra-legal, unconstitutional directive, Price was apprehended 78 days later and returned to the custody of the S.C. Department of Corrections (SCDC).
Sadly, lawmakers did nothing then to fundamentally reform the system… just as they have done nothing in the intervening years.
Keep it tuned to FITSNews as we continue to track the Federico case… and the judicial and political fallout from it.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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16 comments
“Alan Wilson didn’t give a damn about this case until it was in the news,”
Correction– **Nobody** gave a shit about it until they were running for governor.
Agree. And now they’re wearing different faces we have never seen on them before.
There no chance in hell at reforming the judicial system with the same people remaining on the bench, same old people employed in the Court system, same old unethical and corrupt attorneys.
Thank God some of the most cantankerous moody judges have retired. They were slapping killers on the back of their hands while sentencing people for petty crimes to as much as 10 years in prison!
so true and so sad
Dickey and Gipson related?
Byron Gipson has had a lot on his plate trying to keep the elderly store owner from the Parklane Rd area behind bars. The old man shot a 14 year old thug-in-training when his son spotted a gun on the thug and announced it. The old man, fearing for his and his son’s life shot the thuglet. Byron Gipson and Leon Lott have been trying to score political points with the co-munity by keeping the old man locked up with no bond.
Byron didn’t have time to be bothered with this case.
Damn Will. This must be a lucrative website. Who paid for this story? Most of your writing is crap, so I am curious who pays and how much does it cost? If I wanted an article written, but written well, would that cost more or is it just a crapshoot?
Would you just go away? So tired of your always negative commentary.
Then don’t read it.
Yet they continue to allow Manning to hear cases as a retired judge, seems like it’s all for show or they would bar him from the bench
I didn’t know that. Talk about corruption
Casey Manning was always “The Criminal’s Best Friend”.
Where is Manning hearing cases?
Alan nor Nancy cared about this case until they wanted to use it for politics. Gipson should have been put out after that Price case. He’s a joke. Maybe he is waiting on Todd Rutherford’s directions. JMSC just laughed at the citizens when we demanded more transparency and “justice” in our system. Corruption is rampant in S.C. justice and politics. So now Scott Spivey has just been forgotten about? Couple weeks ago Nancy was calling for justice for his family. Guess she has moved on to the next shiny object. SMDH
The glaring difference is Alan Wilson is currently the AG…..
This screams of reverse racism. Black perp and black solicitor. This is not an unusual incident in our country. This and other corruption needs investigated.
And the latest Gipson news is that he lets an Illegal hit and run causing death a USC student and he only gets 1 year in prison. Most of the charges were mysteriously dropped. Rosali Fernandez-Cruz is the murderer. Look it up. Why can’t we get rid of Gipson?