Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Baltimore Man Who Shot Priest Awaits Bail Hearing
Aired May 15, 2002 - 08:01 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Up front this morning, the church sex scandal turns violent. Police say a Maryland man now in custody, Dontee Stokes, confessed to shooting Father Maurice Blackwell outside his home in Baltimore late Monday night. The Stokes family says he was only looking for an apology from the priest for past abuses.
Joining us now from Baltimore is CNN's Jeanne Meserve with the very latest on this investigation -- good morning, Jeanne.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.
First, an update on the victim, Father Maurice Blackwell. He is in serious but stable condition this morning at Maryland Shock Trauma Center. The man who police say has confessed to the shooting, Dontee Stokes, remains in jail charged with attempted murder, first and second degree assault and handgun violations. He will be having a bail hearing in the building behind me some time later this morning.
Dontee Stokes' mother says that recent reports of priest pedophilia are what prompted her son to go to a Baltimore neighborhood seeking an apology from Father Blackwell, who Stokes first alleged abused him back in 1993. The mother says only when her son was brushed off, did not get an apology, did he pull out a gun and fire.
We now know that Stokes then went to a local church, asked for salvation and spoke to the pastor. The pastor told Connie Chung last night that Stokes was very calm, that he made the decision on his own to go to the police and that he has been cooperating with authorities.
There is a lot of history to this case. Back in 1993, Father Blackwell was temporarily suspended from his job as pastor of St. Edward Parish here in Baltimore when Dontee Stokes first made these allegations of sexual abuse against him. When police and church authorities were unable to substantiate those claims, Blackwell was reinstated. It was only in 1998 when Blackwell confessed that he had had a relationship in the '70s with another minor boy that he was permanently suspended and put on leave from his job.
And so a bail hearing today, Dontee Stokes, the man who will be at this bail hearing, worked as a barber. He has no criminal record. His mother has said she believes the charges against him will be dropped because, she says, her son was not in his right mind.
Again, the first step the bail hearing, coming up shortly -- Paula.
ZAHN: Jeanne, here's the part of the story I don't get. Even the police confirm that Dontee Stokes had come to them to complain of this alleged abuse and it didn't lead to any further investigation. Is it clear this morning what happened and why it was "swept under the rug," which is what Dontee Stokes' mother charges?
MESERVE: Well, both the police and the Archdiocese of Baltimore say that it was investigated. The state's attorneys office apparently did not come up with any evidence and so it dropped the matter. The church, while it had Father Blackwell on suspension, did put him in treatment for sexual abusers up in Connecticut, but they were unable to substantiate the charge. They brought him back.
I will say there was an independent review board who disagreed with that decision, but yesterday the cardinal here said that he had information about the psychiatric treatment, that review board did not, and so that is why Father Blackwell was reinstated at that time -- Paula.
ZAHN: All right, thanks so much, Jeanne.
Right now we're going to have more of Connie Chung's interview with the two women closest to Dontee Stokes. In our last hour we heard from Stokes' mother Tamara. She said her son was just looking for an apology.
Now, here is what Stokes' girlfriend Tiffany had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CONNIE CHUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tiffany, you have known Dante for about a decade. You've been his girlfriend and you have a 20- month-old baby girl with him.
TIFFANY TAFT, STOKE'S GIRLFRIEND: Yes.
CHUNG: You were about to get married in August?
TAFT: Yes.
CHUNG: Now, he had dropped you off just about a few hours before this incident happened. At that time, did he seem at all upset?
TAFT: No.
CHUNG: Did you get any clue, any sign that something was wrong?
TAFT: No. His plans were to go to work and to take the baby out for a little while.
CHUNG: He called you and he talked to you afterwards. What did he tell you about what happened?
TAFT: He never got into detail. He just told me that he didn't want to cause me no hatch and pain and that he had something to talk to me about.
CHUNG: Did he tell you then what it was?
TAFT: No.
CHUNG: He didn't reveal it?
TAFT: No.
CHUNG: Did he confess that he had shot a priest?
TAFT: No, not at that time. No.
CHUNG: I see. You talked to him two times, though, didn't you?
TAFT: Right.
CHUNG: Did he reveal it the second time?
TAFT: No. I just talked to him once he turned himself in and he told me that he was OK and he was concerned about the baby and myself.
CHUNG: What was his mood? Was he nervous? Was he upset?
TAFT: He was upset that it had happened.
CHUNG: How did he indicate that he was upset?
TAFT: He just let me know that he would never want to harm anybody and Dante was angry, but he never said anything to me that he wanted to harm him. He just wanted an apology from him.
CHUNG: He confided in you about the alleged molestation, didn't he?
TAFT: He never got into detail with it.
CHUNG: Was it difficult for him to talk about it?
TAFT: Yes.
CHUNG: Did you ask him questions?
TAFT: I would but I know that was a touchy subject for him so I didn't want to do anything to make him upset.
CHUNG: How do you think the alleged molestation affected him?
TAFT: It affected him a lot.
CHUNG: Can you describe in what way? In what way?
TAFT: He just would -- oh, god.
CHUNG: What's the matter, Tiffany?
TAFT: It's just touchy for myself because he's a good person and this is just shocking to me and everybody else.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN: And we're going to have more of Connie's exclusive interview coming up in our next hour.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
