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South Carolina’s attorney general is pressuring a local prosecutor to seek the death penalty against the man accused of murdering 22-year-old college student Logan Hailey Federico.
Attorney General Alan Wilson on Tuesday sent a letter to Fifth Circuit Solicitor Byron Gipson urging him to pursue capital punishment against Alexander Devonte Dickey, 30, who is accused of fatally shooting Federico during a May home invasion in Columbia, South Carolina.
Wilson argued the case carries “clear statutory aggravating factors,” including that the murder occurred during a burglary, and cited Dickey’s criminal record spanning more than a decade.
“His past history, as well as his current violent crime charges show an appropriate candidate for the ultimate punishment,” Wilson wrote in the Sept. 30 letter, published by FITS News.
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“I think it’s absolutely fantastic,” Stephen Federico, Logan’s dad, told Fox News Digital about the attorney general pushing for the death penalty against Dickey. “Alan Wilson is willing to do the right thing and what is justice for Logan.”
The attorney general gave Gipson until Oct. 10 to declare his intentions, warning that if the solicitor was “unable to proceed,” the attorney general’s office was prepared to take over. Gipson fired back in an Oct. 1 response, calling Wilson’s deadline “reckless, irresponsible and unethical.”
“To make such a determination a mere four months into the case, without investing the due diligence necessary to conduct a thorough analysis of all facets of the evidence, would set a dangerous precedent,” Gipson wrote, according to FITS News.
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The solicitor said key forensic evidence remains pending, writing that most of Dickey’s 40 prior arrests occurred outside his jurisdiction.
“The remaining offenses all occurred in other jurisdictions which would make any prosecutorial decisions related to those offenses the responsibility of other prosecutorial agencies,” Gipson wrote.
Stephen told Fox News Digital that he doesn’t believe that Gipson is willing to pursue the death penalty.
“He’s never gone for the debt penalty in any of his murder trials from what I understand,” he said. “There’s no reason that I would think any differently on this one.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Wilson and Gipson for comment.
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