‘My daughter is dead’: NC dad fights for change, talks Congresswoman Ross confusing his daughter with other victim

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — It’s been nearly five months since 22-year-old North Carolina native Logan Federico was shot and killed by a person police say has an extensive criminal history, and today her dad continues to fight for different laws.

“I am Logan Hailey’s father,” Stephen Federico said. It’s a badge of honor for him.

“Logan was a spirit that this country needed. We lost somebody very special that wanted to change and mold younger kids’ lives… she would’ve made a difference,” he said.

The North Carolina dad is fighting for change after his daughter was murdered in South Carolina in May. The suspected killer, Alexander Dickey, has an extensive criminal history with 25 felony charges. Federico wants lawmakers to act immediately to keep people like Dickey off the street.

“There’s nobody that could stand in front of me and logically tell me why he was on the streets, there is no argument to Logan’s execution,” Federico said.

If the conversation sounds familiar, it’s because it is, especially in the Charlotte community, nearly two months after the stabbing death of Iryna Zarutska on a light rail train.

This week, Federico went to a House Judiciary Committee meeting in Charlotte to talk about his daughter and urge lawmakers to protect victims. He got sidetracked momentarily when Congresswoman Deborah Ross confused a photo of his daughter with Zarutska.

“I had something written out for that day that… the fury and her mistaking Logan for Iryna, kind of pushed that aside…my speech was then null and void, I needed to speak from my heart,” Federico said. [Ross] didn’t know the difference between Logan Federico and Iryna, that I thought was pretty pathetic.”

Federico says a movement has started to make sure parents don’t go through what he has—and still is.

“My daughter is dead,” he said. “That’s why it’s important, and I have to try to keep, we, as a team, as a society, have to keep Logans and Irynas from happening.”

Federico wants to see a law named after his daughter, one to save other people from becoming victims.

A spokesperson for Congresswoman Ross released a statement to CBS 17 about mistaking the two victims. It reads:

“Congresswoman Ross made a mistake at the hearing and profusely apologized to Mr. Federico at the time. She is heartbroken that he lost his daughter to senseless crime and is deeply sorry if her mistake contributed to his pain. She is committed to fully funding federal law enforcement resources, including the Crime Victims Fund, to ensure that no other parent experiences this same loss, unlike Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans, who are gutting funding that helps local communities combat crime.”