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| “ | Johnny, you go to Hell! I should've left you in that foster home! | „ |
| ~ Dede McCann cursing her own son, Johnny Feist |
Dede McCann is the secondary antagonist of the Law & Order: Criminal Intent episode "Diamond Dogs". She is a career criminal and heroin addict how makes her son and fellow addict Johnny Feist rob jewelry stores and kill the owners to finance her drug habit.
She was portrayed by Rebecca Wisocky.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Dede is a long-term heroin addict with an extensive criminal record, mostly stealing and pulling scams to feed her addiction. She gave birth to a son named Johnny Feist, not knowing who the boy's father was, and gave him up for adoption. Over the years, she got involved with several abusive boyfriends and pimps, all so she could afford a steady supply of heroin.
When Johnny was a teenager, Dede took him in from the foster home he was living in, and quickly turned him into a heroin addict as well so she could better control him. She taught him how to steal, and was soon sending him to rob jewelry stores, advising to kill the owners so as bit too leave witnesses. She also found him a girlfriend, another addict named Maya Sampson, so he would feel indebted to her.
"Diamond Dogs"[]
Dede orders Johnny to break into a townhouse owned by wealthy couple Jack and Miriam Engles and steal several valuables, including a high-end pistol and an expensive watch. She then tells him to use the pistol to rob a jewelry store and kill the owner. Detectives Mike Logan and Carolyn Barek of the NYPD's Major Case Squad investigate the murder and robbery, and quickly connect Dede and Johnny to a series of robberies.
After Johnny commits another robbery and murder, Logan and Barek arrest Maya for receiving stolen goods, part of a plan to draw out Dede, whom they suspect is the mastermind of the crime spree. Sure enough, Dede bails Maya out, pretending to be her mother. That night, fearing that Maya will turn on her and Johnny, Dede kills her by giving her an overdose. She tells a heartbroken Johnny that the police killed her, spurring him on to commit the most violent robbery yet, killing everyone inside the store.
Eventually, Logan and Barek arrest Dede and Johnny for the murders and leave Dede alone in an interrogation room long enough for her to go into withdrawal. They tell him that Dede killed Maya and confront him with the abuse she has inflicted upon him over the years. They then let him see Dede suffering in withdrawal and tell him that she will eventually die on the streets or worse unless he confesses to their crimes and gives her a chance to get clean in a prison hospital. Johnny reluctantly confesses, and watches as police take Dede into custody, cursing and disowning him for giving her up to the police. She is then sentenced to life imprisonment for her part in the robbery-murders and for murdering Maya.
Trivia[]
- Dede is inspired by Maryann Taylor-Casey, who in 2005 sent her son Chris DiMeo and his girlfriend Nicole Pierce to rob a jewelry store and murder three people in Long Island, New York
External links[]
- Dede McCann on the Law & Order Wiki
