Heather Cook

Maryland Bishop Charged in Baltimore Hit-and-Run

on January 9, 2015

The second highest ranking official in the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland will be charged with manslaughter in a December 27 crash that killed a cyclist, according to a Baltimore prosecutor.

Bishop Suffragan Heather Cook is accused of driving under the influence resulting in a homicide, vehicular manslaughter, criminal negligent manslaughter, texting while driving and fleeing the scene of an accident. A breathalyzer test showed Cook’s blood alcohol level was .22 following the accident. If found guilty, Cook could face a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment for each charge of manslaughter and driving away from the accident.

Baltimore City State’s attorney Marilyn J. Mosby, sworn in as Baltimore’s top prosecutor Thursday night, made the announcement at a news conference this morning in Baltimore. A warrant will be issued for Cook’s arrest, prosecutors said.

The Episcopal Church has also launched its own investigation under the church’s disciplinary canons. It is unclear if Cook was engaged in church business at the time of the accident, but if she was, the diocese could be potentially vulnerable to a civil suit in the death of 41-year-old cyclist Thomas Palermo.

Church spokeswoman Neva Rae Fox told the Baltimore Sun on Thursday that church officials will look at the process used for vetting candidates for bishop positions, but that the church is still waiting to learn information about the incident involving Cook.

“There is a process that guided the search committee. Everything is being looked at right now. We have no answers yet,” Fox said.

The charges come as the Episcopal Church’s Executive Council gathers for a quarterly meeting beginning today at the Maritime Institute in nearby Linthicum, Maryland.

Diocese of Maryland officials have acknowledged that delegates who elected Cook in May were not told that she had been charged with driving under the influence of alcohol in 2010, an incident in which her blood alcohol level was .27 and she was found in possession of an open whiskey bottle, two bags of marijuana and marijuana smoking paraphernalia. The information was disclosed to a search committee that vetted candidates, but was not relayed to bishops and standing committees across the church that consented to her election.

Members of Baltimore’s cycling community have called for Cook’s prosecution, providing regular updates on the page “Charge Bishop Heather Cook with Homicide” which has over 2,500 followers. A fund established for the education of Palermo’s two children has received over $72,000 to date.

“There should be little doubt that anyone who crashes into a person properly riding their bicycle in a designated bike lane would be ‘in shock’ at having caused such a horrible circumstance to occur. Being in shock, however, does not explain someone’s moral depravity in refusing to stop and provide or seek help for the person they struck,” wrote Towson resident Keith Franz in a letter published in the Baltimore Sun on Friday. “For a religious leader like Bishop Suffragan Heather Elizabeth Cook to leave the scene of a crash and drive herself home leaving Thomas Palermo lying in the street and dying from his injuries — no amount of shock excuses this complete lack of moral responsibility.”

The accident quickly became international news, with the Associated Press, Washington Post, BBC and London Daily Mail all providing coverage in the days following the accident. The Episcopal News Service, the church’s official mouthpiece, published online its first article about the investigation on January 8, twelve days after the incident.

Church officials are expected to address the developments during a media conference planned for Sunday, January 11, the last day of the Executive Council meeting.

Update: [1/13/2015]: Cook remains in jail following a bail hearing in which the judge declined to lower bail from $2.5 million. District Court Judge Nicole Pastore Klein cited Cook’s leaving of the scene of the December 27 accident as the basis for considering her to be a potential flight risk. A hearing has been set for February 6.

Update: [1/15/2015]: Cook has met bail. WBAL-TV investigative reporter Jayne Miller noted from the scene that bail industry sources called Cook’s bail development “unprecedented.” “Bishop Cook posted $35,000 cash and signed note to pay $1,000/month for 215 months to bail bondsman to make her $2.5 million bail,” tweeted Miller. Cook was driven by a friend directly to an in-patient alcohol treatment facility.

Update: [1/30/2015]: The Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland has written to Bishop Cook calling for her resignation. While Cook would still continue as a bishop of the Episcopal Church (church policy prohibits resignation from orders while under a disciplinary investigation) she would cease to be an employee of the diocese.

Update: [2/03/2015]: The Washington Post reports that diocesan officials suspected Cook was drunk at a dinner the night before her September consecration. The story links to a timeline provided by the Diocese of Maryland stating that Bishop Eugene Sutton informed Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori of his suspicion, Jefferts Schori “indicates she will discuss with Cook” and the consecration proceeds as planned the following day.

Update: [2/04/2015]: WBAL-TV reports that Cook has been indicted on several charges for her alleged role in the death of Palermo. The Office of the State’s Attorney for Baltimore City released the indictment Wednesday afternoon.

Update: [4/02/2015]: Anglican Ink reports a trial date of June 4, 2015 has been set for Cook to answer charges of manslaughter before the Baltimore City Circuit Court.

Update: [5/01/2015]: WBAL-TV reports that the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland has accepted the resignation of Cook. An announcement from the Presiding Bishop’s office states that Cook has separately been deposed from ordained ministry in the church.

Update: [5/09/2017]: WBAL-TV reports that Cook will have to serve out the rest of her term. The commission refused parole for Cook, who will likely have a mandatory release date in March 2020 on her seven-year sentence. Commission chair David Blumberg said the commission took into account that Cook was not remorseful and that she has not apologized to the victim’s family.

  1. Comment by kirk on January 9, 2015 at 4:56 pm

    I was trying to keep an open mind, till I got to the 8th paragraph, where I read that this woman already had a record, and the people who elected were kept in the dark about it. To err is human, blessed are the merciful, and all that, but this woman has no business serving as bishop, clergy, or any position of authority, especially in the church. The search committee that hid the information from the bishops have much to answer for too. You can laugh at boozers and potheads in movies like The Big Lebowski, but in real life they are not funny at all, and as anyone who has seen The Big Lebowski would agree, the Dude was a LOSER, not someone you would want as a pastor – or a bag boy. Open whiskey bottle and pot – and she gets elected bishop. What’s with the Episcopalians – first a gay guy who dumped his wife, now a pothead who commits vehicular homicide. Is your membership so small that you got out the spatula and started scraping the bottom of the barrel?

  2. Comment by DD on January 9, 2015 at 5:27 pm

    At least the article explains why they’re all smiling.

  3. Comment by Sandra K Jenner on January 9, 2015 at 6:00 pm

    Since she’s being charged with manslaughter, maybe her defense attorneys can bring up her August statement opposing the “violence” in Ferguson, MO:

    http://episcopalmaryland.org/a-statement-from-the-bishop-suffragan-elect-regarding-recent-events-in-ferguson-missouri/

  4. Comment by Jan B. Hamilton on January 9, 2015 at 7:39 pm

    Urgent Prayer Request: I was recently arrested based upon a complaint for harassment filed by Rector Jonathan Brice of Christ Episcopal Church and a Vestry member, Shirley Tipton. This occurred after the denial of my 13 year donation of alter flowers in honor of my Lesbian lover. This arrest occurred after I asked for my money back. Pray also for Judge James B. Boyd and Judge Paul Metzler. I will learn Friday January 15, 2015 if my probation is revoked and I go back to jail. The 1st arrest of my life was May 22, 2005 after Steve Woodrow, Sr. Pastor of the 1st Baptist Church in Aspen,Colorado learned that I am a Lesbian. I was in jail for over 2 years without trial on a $300,000.00 cash only bond. Please pray that justice will be done. I respect their belief that they are opposed to same gender families but if they arrest me if I don’t believe as they do—isn’t that a violation of the 1st Amendment Freedom of Religion? I believe that God loves all the same, gay and straight. Thanks for your prayers.

  5. Comment by Edward on January 9, 2015 at 10:57 pm

    You are very right, God loves gays and all people. But the God revealed in the book called the Bible does not sanction the gay lifestyle, contrary to popular American media opinion. I am not gay, but I am no better than you, a gay, in any way before that God. I might not have foibles in the area of homosexual attraction, but that does not mean I don’t have other failures for which to ask forgiveness from that God. My advice to you is to go to that God and confess your practice of a gay lifestyle. He is compassionate and merciful, very willing to forgive. Or, you can buy into the lie that gayism is ok, and dare to poke your fingers into the eyes of the mighty God in open defiance. Of course you will not be alone.

  6. Comment by John S. on January 12, 2015 at 7:17 am

    So you are saying you were arrested for being a lesbian in the 1st Baptist Church and held in jail for two years on that charge?

  7. Comment by Jan B. Hamilton on January 12, 2015 at 11:08 am

    15 arrests in 10 years. The “Lynch Mob” continues their bias and prejudice. These people continue to call the police and have me arrested.. I am filing a case with the Federal District Court in Denver for Religious Freedom.

  8. Comment by faithtoo on January 12, 2015 at 11:59 am

    I think you need an exorciisim

  9. Comment by John S. on January 13, 2015 at 6:01 am

    I did not know one could be arrested for being a lesbian in the US.

  10. Comment by Jan B. Hamilton on January 13, 2015 at 10:16 am

    The police are corrupt and have accepted testimony of homophobic people who distort the truth and I then get arrested for harassment for seeking a place in the church and asking that my Lesbian wedding be held there. Pray. I go to court on January 15-16 and could go back to jail for 3 years.

  11. Comment by John S. on January 14, 2015 at 6:11 am

    Ahh, so you haven’t been arrested for being a lesbian despite the somewhat misleading original answer. You broke the law and the conditions of your parole. What did you expect to happen?

  12. Comment by Jan B. Hamilton on January 14, 2015 at 10:59 am

    No I was not on parole. Just pray for a miracle.
    Love, Jan and Her Future Wife to be married in a Christian Church is Aspen very soon.

  13. Comment by 0pus35 on January 14, 2015 at 5:43 pm

    Being married in a church does not make it a marriage in God’s eyes. Laws change, and even some faux “Christians” will go along with those changes, but you can’t change reality. There is no same-sex “marriage” any more than there is a square circle or a four-sided triangle. God’s will for human sexuality and marriage is very clearly revealed in the Bible, and has been consistent for 2000 years. God’s moral law exists because He loves us and wants what is best for us. We conform to His rule, we do not bend His rules to please ourselves.

  14. Comment by Greg on January 9, 2015 at 8:03 pm

    This story is such Bravo Sierra! They knew she was a drunk when they hired her. That didn’t matter. To them, she rounded out the perfect ticket; a black male bishop and a woman suffragan. Only two things could have made their ministry dyad even better, and that is if one, or both of them, were gay and former Catholics.

  15. Comment by Evan Hurst on January 9, 2015 at 8:34 pm

    As this article points out, Gene Robinson, the Episc’s first openly gay bishop, was an alcoholic, among several bishops. It also provides some colorful details about Bishop Cook’s DUI arrest.

    http://www.christianpost.com/news/heather-cook-isnt-the-first-high-ranking-episcopal-bishop-who-struggled-with-alcohol-but-she-could-be-first-to-pay-after-homicide-132246/

  16. Comment by virginiagentleman on January 10, 2015 at 3:14 am

    Typical inability of the church to draw a bright line around egregious and illegal behavior of candidates even when the vetting committee is fully informed by whomever does the psychological assessment and criminal background check. This makes the diocese one of those “deep pockets” that personal injury lawyers love.

  17. Comment by Earl H. Foote on January 10, 2015 at 4:32 pm

    The more we find out about this case, the worse it gets. Clearly, S.B. Cook had an alcohol/substance abuse problem. So, the process started out badly when her previous DUI was not fully disclosed. At the very least, she should have documented that she was in recovery and had taken steps to overcome her problems. Two DUI incidents in less than five years mean that these were not “mistakes”–she probably did this a lot, but got caught twice. She should be fired (or whatever the Church term is) immediately–for her to be a spiritual leader is a travesty and an outrage. While I am a loyal (but often dissenting) Episcopalian, I have to ask: what WERE the Church leaders thinking? An alcoholic pothead as Suffragan Bishop? Tragically, this latest incident was an accident waiting to happen. My heart goes out to the loved ones of the bicyclist who was killed. Justice needs to be served here. Kirk, your point about scraping the bottom of the barrel was well taken.

  18. Comment by Mike Ward on January 10, 2015 at 9:10 pm

    She’ll probably make a good plea deal and then get paroled at the first opportunity then get her old job back.

  19. Comment by Namyriah on January 14, 2015 at 1:52 pm

    As of Friday, January 9, she had turned herself in to Baltimore police, bail was set at $2.5 million, no update yet on whether she is out on bail or still in jail.

    http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2015/0110/Maryland-bishop-charged-with-drunken-driving-manslaughter-video

    Although I am no fan of the Episcopalians, and I hope justice is done, I wonder if the court might use the case to stain Christians in general.

  20. Comment by Namyriah on February 1, 2015 at 4:43 pm

    The diocese has asked her to resign, immediately. Not sure if that’s resigning as bishop or as clergy. She’ll probably find a nice cozy spot at some womyn’s studies department.

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