22-year-old visiting Columbia was shot in killer’s crime spree, SC police say
A woman from North Carolina was visiting friends in Columbia when she was shot and killed during a wanted man’s crime spree that didn’t end until he was pulled from a burning house that he’d set on fire, according to police.
Logan Federico, a 22-year-old from Waxhaw, North Carolina, was staying with a friend at a home in the 2700 block of Cypress Street when a man broke in and shot her, Columbia Police Department Chief Skip Holbrook said Monday evening during a news conference. Holbrook was joined at the news event by Richland County Coroner Naida Rutherford, Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon and the victim’s father — Stephen Federico.
At the news conference, Holbrook detailed the events that occurred early Saturday morning and continued through Sunday when 30-year-old Alexander Dickey was taken into custody.
Deadly shooting
Holbrook said Columbia police got involved Saturday at 11:14 a.m. when emergency dispatch got a 911 call that a “female victim was deceased” at a home on Cypress Street. Moments later, 911 got another call about a vehicle that was stolen from an adjacent property, according to Holbrook.
Dickey had broken inside two neighboring rental homes where fraternity brothers at the University of South Carolina were living, the police chief said. At those homes, Dickey stole the keys to a vehicle and several more items including a gun, a wallet as well as credit and debit cards, Holbrook said. While Dickey was in the second home, he entered the room where Logan Federico was staying and fatally shot her, according to Holbrook.
Rutherford said the victim was shot in her chest, called the death a homicide. There were no other obvious signs of trauma to Federico’s body, according to Rutherford.
“Logan was a true victim, a helpless victim. She was not an intended target,” Holbrook said. “She and her friends were out with others just socializing, doing what college kids do, just having a good time. She and her friend arrived back at the residence shortly before 3 a.m. in the morning.”
Federico was believed to be alone in a room when Dickey entered, the police chief said.
“Shopping spree”
Dickey then drove away in the stolen vehicle and headed toward West Columbia, according to Holbrook.
Dickey “goes on what investigators describe as a shopping spree,” Holbrook said. “He uses the stolen credit and debit cards to go to multiple stores in Lexington County. Ultimately, drives to Saluda County and then attempts to make additional purchases.”
While Dickey was in Saluda County, the stolen vehicle broke down, leaving Dickey stranded, according to the police chief. Dickey called for a tow truck to move the stolen vehicle from Saluda to a residence of a “female acquaintance” in the Gaston area of Lexington County, Holbrook said.
“By this time, we are starting to track him as a person of interest and we have investigators from our department, the sheriff’s department and SLED converging on this location in Gaston,” Holbrook said. ”As law enforcement arrives at that residence a person leaves out the back and into a wooded area, and that is who we’ve identified as Dickey.”
Law enforcement remained in the area throughout Saturday night and into the next day, but it wasn’t until about 4 p.m. Sunday that a Lexington County resident reported seeing someone come from the woods, steal a vehicle and attempts to drive off only to wreck a short distance away, according to Holbrook.
Dickey then leaves again on foot and heads back to the original Gaston home that he had run away from, and forces his way into the then-unoccupied residence, the police chief said. Law enforcement officers surrounded the home and started ordering Dickey to surrender, but the “residence becomes engulfed in flames, it’s set on fire,” Holbrook said.
Dickey was extracted through a window and taken into custody by the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department, according to Holbrook. He was then taken to a hospital where he was treated and released, before being booked into the Lexington County Detention Center, the police chief said.
No other injuries were reported.
The charges
Koon said that Dickey was charged with first-degree burglary and second-degree arson and was denied bond by a Lexington County magistrate.
“We will continue to investigate and follow up on the financial, fraudulent credit card usage in the area that we know about and that second motor vehicle theft,” Koon said at the news conference.
Jail records show that Dickey remains in the Lexington County Detention Center despite a slew of pending charges in Richland County, where Federico was killed.
Holbrook said in Richland County, warrants have been issued charging Dickey with:
▪ Murder
▪ Two counts of first-degree burglary
▪ Two counts of possession of weapon during a violent crime
▪ Possession of a weapon by a prohibited person who’s a convicted felon
▪ Two counts of grand larceny
▪ Grand larceny of a motor vehicle
▪ Three counts of financial transaction card theft
“Dickey, he’s a criminal,” Holbrook said. “He’s currently wanted by the Forest Acres Police Department for drug possession. He has convictions for auto breaking, grand larceny, possession of meth, strong arm robbery, driving without a license, possession of stolen vehicle, burglary third degree, burglary second degree, fail to comply with direction of police and resisting arrest.
“He’s a true convict and deserves to be in jail for the rest of his life.”
Information about when Dickey could be transported to Richland County to face those charges was not available.
A random crime
Despite the deadly shooting, Hobrook said the street where the rental homes are located “is a very well established safe neighborhood.” That’s in an area between Devine Street and Gervais Street, not far from Five Points.
“There is absolutely no safety risk in the area. ... I think there were two other calls for service this whole year, and that was for no major crimes,” Holbrook said.
The police chief added that police never felt like there was a threat to the neighborhood after the shooting because they had identified Dickey as the wanted man and were confident that he’d left the area.
Information about how police identified Dickey as the shooter was not available.
In addition to Federico, Holbrook said there were 10 people who were victimized by Dickey during the weekend crime spree. That included those who were burglary victims or had vehicles stolen. The vehicle that was stolen in Columbia was from a funeral home, Holbrook confirmed.
BEHIND THE STORY
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This story was originally published May 6, 2025 at 11:34 AM with the headline "22-year-old visiting Columbia was shot in killer’s crime spree, SC police say."
