Heather Cook Pleads Guilty To Manslaughter In Drunken Hit-And-Run Killing Of Cyclist Tom Palermo

On Tuesday, former Episcopalian Bishop Heather Cook pleaded guilty to a number of charges in the December, 2014, death of Baltimore cyclist Tom Palermo.

Initially on April 13, Heather Cook pleaded not guilty to 13 counts against her. However, on Tuesday, a day before her trial was set to begin, Cook changed her pleas, and pleaded guilty to automobile manslaughter, leaving the scene of a fatal accident, driving while intoxicated, and texting while driving.

On the night of the fatal accident — December 27, 2014 — Heather Cook was driving near her North Baltimore home when she lost control of the vehicle and veered into the bike lane. It was then that the 58-year-old, newly-appointed Episcopalian Bishop struck 41-year-old Tom Palermo, causing the cyclist to fly up onto the hood and into the windshield of Cook’s car. Heather Cook then fled the scene — not knowing that the impact had almost immediately killed Palermo — and returned home for more than half an hour. It was only after “prodding from a friend” that Cook then returned to the scene, and was taken to the police station where she was her blood-alcohol content level was tested. Maryland’s legal limit is o.08 percent, and, according to the Associated Press, at nearly three times the legal limit, Heather Cook’s blood alcohol level was 0.22 percent.

With her lawyers David Irwin and Jose Molina by her side on Tuesday, Cook spoke quietly and said little, aside from entering her guilty pleas. Irwin explained that Cook had changed her pleas and had decided to plead guilty in an attempt to speed up closure for the Palermo family — which includes a wife and two young children left behind by Cook’s actions, says WBALTV.

“My client, as I have said before, and all of us cannot express in words the sadness that we feel for the Palermo family. It was a tragedy. There are no winners in this case, only losers.”

Not long after charges were filed in the incident, Heather Cook resigned from her post as the diocese’s second-highest ranking leader — and the first female bishop in her diocese. Her lawyers also allege that Cook has been sober since the December crash.

On October 27, the state will give their recommendation for Heather’s sentence to a Baltimore Circuit Court judge. The plea deal calls for Cook to receive the maximum sentence of 20 years in prison with 10 years suspended, and another five years of probation. Heather’s lawyers call the recommended sentence a “heavy one.”

Heather Cook pleaded guilty to manslaughter charges after her drunken actions killed a husband and father of two, but her lawyers believe the recommended sentence is too steep. Should Cook deserve a lesser sentence, or is she getting exactly what she deserves? Sound off below.

[Image Credit: Baltimore Brew]