One of the most controversial decisions in the casting of real people from Baltimores drug scene in The Wire was the introduction of Felicia Snoop Pearson in season three. Although initially Snoop had a small role as a mostly silent lieutenant to drug lord Marlo Stanfield (Jamie Hector), she gradually became a prominent character in her double act with fellow enforcer Chris Partlow (Gbenga Akinnagbe). Michael K. Williams, who had met her in a Baltimore club, introduced Snoop to David Simon. The controversy stemmed from Pearsons history as a drug dealer, and the fact that she had been convicted of second-degree murder at the age of fourteen (and served six and half years of a sixteen year sentence in The Cut). The family of victim Okia Toomer were understandably upset about the celebratory nature of casting a convicted murdered in such a violent role. Yet Snoops performance in the show, regardless of her past, is exceptional with one scene featuring a nail gun in a hardware store standing out most prominently. Indeed, no less an authority than horror author Stephen King called her perhaps the most terrifying female villain to ever appear in a television series high praise indeed!
