Group Opposes Parole For Ex-Bishop Who Killed Cyclist

BALTIMORE (AP) — Cycling advocates are calling on Maryland officials to deny parole for a former Episcopal bishop serving a seven-year prison term for killing a bicyclist while driving drunk.

A parole hearing is scheduled Tuesday in Jessup for Heather Cook, who pleaded guilty in 2015 to manslaughter, leaving the scene of a fatal accident, driving while intoxicated and texting while driving.

Cook, then a newly installed bishop in the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland, struck 41-year-old Tom Palermo on his bicycle on Dec. 27, 2014.

Cook resigned from her post as bishop shortly after being arrested, and the Episcopal Church revoked her clergy credentials.

Diocesan officials acknowledged they knew of an earlier drunken driving charge against Cook but did not disclose the information to local church members before they voted to elect her.

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