The second-degree murder charge that Raymond Dwight Cook, a former Wake Med plastic surgeon and Assistant Professor at UNC’s Medical School, is now facing alleges that malice was involved.

Wake County Assistant District Attorney Jeff Cruden says generally there are different factors considered in a second-degree murder charge as opposed to felonious death by motor vehicle.

Cruden is the prosecuting attorney in Cook’s case and cannot comment specifically on the ongoing investigation.  A second-degree murder charge was filed Tuesday against Cook, an upgrade from the felonious driving while impaired that he had initially been facing.

Cook surrendered his medical license and resigned from WakeMed yesterday.
The News and Observer reported that Cook has had a history of being accused of drunken driving. He accepted a guilty plea to driving under the influence of alcohol while a student at the University of Georgia in 1989. A year before, in North Carolina, he had charges against him dropped in a DWI case in Forsyth County.

Cruden says in general, a prior record can influence the outcome of a guilty verdict when it comes to sentencing.

The owner of a bar in Raleigh, The Piper's Restaurant and Tavern, says the bar stopped serving Cook fifteen minutes prior to the accident. The owner told the N&O that he had been under the impression Cook had someone to drive him home.
Cook has released a statement expressing remorse and his intentions to enter a treatment program for substance abuse.