Wife indicted in shooting death of York city councilman

Carolyn Rodgers Cook, 44, of York, Ala., was indicted by a Sumter County Grand Jury and taken into custody on Thursday, Sept 17 for the Feb. 14 shooting death of her husband, Ecoles Cook.
Carolyn Rodgers Cook is escorted into the Sumter County Jail by York Police Chief Brian Harris (right) and Senior Trooper Reginal King on Thursday, Sept. 17. Cook, 44, of York, Ala., was indicted by a Sumter County Grand Jury and taken into custody on Thursday, Sept 17 for the Feb. 14 shooting death of her husband, Ecoles Cook.

A mystery surrounding the February death of a York city councilman is one step closer to being solved.

On Thursday, agents with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency’s (ALEA) State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), officials with the York Police Department, and the District Attorney’s Office in the 17th Circuit, arrested Carolyn Rodgers Cook, 44, of York, for the murder of her husband Ecoles Cook, a York city councilman. The arrest comes after Cook was indicted by a Sumter County Grand Jury.

Carolyn Rodgers Cook, 44, of York, Ala., was indicted by a Sumter County Grand Jury and taken into custody on Thursday, Sept 17 for the Feb. 14 shooting death of her husband, Ecoles Cook. (Contributed Photo)
Carolyn Rodgers Cook, 44, of York, Ala., was indicted by a Sumter County Grand Jury and taken into custody on Thursday, Sept 17 for the Feb. 14 shooting death of her husband, Ecoles Cook. (Contributed Photo)

“Everyone in the community just loved Ecoles,” said Gena Robbins, Mayor of York. “He worked full time at the schools and the kids loved him, the community loved him. Today has just been a really bittersweet day for our small town.”

The incident took place shortly before 8 p.m. Feb. 14, at the couple’s residence on Booth Street in York, Cook was taken to Hill Hospital of York where he was later pronounced dead as a result of his injuries.

“We know a lot of times it seems like we may not be moving forward on cases like this, but we want the community to know that these issues take time,” said Robbins. “Sometimes, we just aren’t able to release information as freely as we would like because we have to preserve the integrity of the case.”

Robbins went on to praise York’s Director of Public Safety, Brian Harris. Harris also serves as chief of police and fire chief.

“Chief Harris has done a great job leading this investigation. We are so proud of the manner in which he has handled such a trying case for our city,” said Robbins.

“We had a lot of help over the last seven months, and we appreciate the help of local and state law enforcement agencies in helping us get this far with this case,” said Harris.

Cook was taken into custody on Thursday at approximately 3:30 p.m. and is being held at the Sumter County Jail on murder charges. Bond has been set at $50,000.