COLUMBIA, SC - A 22-year-old college student has been killed after a man with a criminal history broke into her friend's home and shot her in the chest after stealing several credit cards.
According to Fox News, during a press conference on Monday, May 5th, Columbia Police Chief Skip Holbrook described the horrific crime as "random" and that the suspect, since identified as 30-year-old Alexander Dickey, as a "career criminal."
The victim, Logan Federico, was visiting her friends in Columbia and staying at a house on Cypress Street on the evening of May 2nd through the morning of May 3rd. Authorities said that early on Saturday, May 3rd, Dickey drove a stolen vehicle into the neighborhood and parked the car on Cypress Street, seemingly at random.
He then allegedly broke into one home and stole the keys to another vehicle and a firearm. He then broke into the home where Federico was saying. Once in the home, Dickey allegedly stole several credit cards, saw Federico sleeping in one of the bedrooms in the house and fatally shot her.
Holbrook called Federico a "true victim." Police responded to the residence around 11:00 on Saturday, May 3rd and pronounced her dead on scene from a gunshot wound. Police said the next day, Dickey went on a "shopping spree" using the stolen credit cards in West Columbia. The stolen vehicle he was using broke down in Saluda County.
Dickey then called a tow truck to have the stolen vehicle transported to a residence in Gaston. Police began tracking Dickey as a person of interest in the home invasion and murder of Federico, and responded to the residence of Gaston on May 3rd. He fled the home when police arrived and officers spend the remainder of Saturday searching for him.
A day later, on Sunday, May 4th, a Gaston resident reported seeing a man, later identified as Dickey, emerge from the woods and steal another car. He drove the stolen car to the initial Gaston residence that police had responded to the day before and forced his way inside the home.
Police surrounded the residence and arrested Dickey without further incident. Dickey has been charged with murder, two counts of first-degree burglary, two counts of possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime, possession of a weapon by a convicted felon, two counts of grand larceny, grand larceny of a motor vehicle, three counts of financial transaction card theft.
During the press conference, Holbrook said, "Dickey ... he's a criminal." Court records show that Dickey was involved in 40 criminal and traffic cases between 2013 and the present. He has convictions for breaking and entering, burglary, grand larceny, strong-arm robbery, possession of a stolen vehicle, resisting arrest and more. He was denied bond. His most recent conviction for resisting arrest resulted in a 30-day prison sentence.
Federico was an aspiring teacher from Waxhaw, North Carolina. During the press conference, Federico's father, Stephen Federico, remembered his daughter, saying, "My daughter, I cherished. She was a strong, fun, loving individual who did what she wanted to do and was spicy. She was the biggest Taylor Swift fan that I've ever seen. She loved and adored kids. Children of all ages."
He also shared a message from his daughter to Dickey: "'You can't kill my spirit. You might be able to kill my body ... but you cannot kill my love that my family and friends shared with me'." Federico was working two jobs at the time of her death while studying to become a teacher.
The Columbia Police Department said in a statement, "We remain committed to pursuing justice and supporting Logan's family every step of the way."
