Bishop charged with manslaughter, drunken driving

BALTIMORE – Maryland’s second-highest ranking Episcopal leader and the first female bishop in her diocese was charged with drunken driving and manslaughter after fatally striking a cyclist in late December.

Heather Cook, 58, turned herself in to authorities Friday, according to her attorney, David Irwin. A trial is scheduled for Feb. 6.

The charges came less than a week after the national Episcopal Church announced it had opened an investigation into Cook, whose family ties to the church span generations.

On Dec. 27, Cook struck and killed Tom Palermo, 41, while he was riding his bicycle. According to prosecutors, Cook left the scene for 30 minutes before returning, and registered a blood-alcohol content of 0.22 percent after the wreck. Palermo died of a head injury at a nearby hospital later that day.

Less than four months earlier, Cook was ordained as the diocese of Maryland’s first female bishop.

Cook has had repeated problems with alcohol. In 2010, she was charged with drunken driving on Maryland’s Eastern Shore after registering a blood alcohol content of 0.27 percent. Police found wine, liquor and marijuana in her car. The drug charges were dropped after Cook pleaded guilty to the drunken driving offense, and she received probation.

Prosecutors say Cook was texting on her cellphone when she veered and struck Palermo from behind in a residential neighborhood in northern Baltimore. The impact threw him onto the car’s hood and windshield, and he landed on a curb.