Courtesy of JTA. Photo credit: Andrew Lapin/Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Samantha Woll, president of the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue in Detroit, welcomes attendees to the congregation’s centennial celebration and groundbreaking on a major renovation project, Aug. 14, 2022
(JTA) — A man charged with multiple counts in the killing of Detroit synagogue president Samantha Woll has had a murder charge dismissed by the judge in the case.
Woll, a 40-year-old Democratic and interfaith activist and president of the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue, was found stabbed to death outside of her home on Oct. 21, 2023.
Her killing came just two weeks after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, alarming Jews in Detroit and beyond who feared that she had been the victim of an antisemitic attack. But law enforcement was quick to say that her killing was not a hate crime.
Jackson-Bolanos, 29, was the second suspect taken into custody, nearly two months after Woll’s death, and the first to be tried. A jury had acquitted him of premeditated murder in July at the end of a five-week trial, in a win for Jackson-Bolanos and his attorney, who claim he was staking out the neighborhood to break into cars and was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.
But the jury, which deliberated for more than a week, remained deadlocked on the count of felony murder. After a pretrial hearing in late July to address the deadlocked counts, Wayne County Circuit Judge Margaret Van Houten called the court back in session and ruled against a retrial.
Prosecutors say they want to appeal the judge’s dismissal, which would mean that Jackson-Bolanos could not be tried again for murder. He remains behind bars for now, after being convicted of one count — lying to the police — for which he was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
The dismissed charges leaves Isaac Agree, Detroit’s last synagogue housed within the city limits, without any closure after Woll’s shocking murder. Later this month, the 100-year-old congregation is celebrating the completion of its new building — which it is naming after Woll.
“She was actually the one leading the charge on the fundraising for the roof deck build-out,” Rachel Rudman, the synagogue’s director, told the Detroit Jewish News. “So having that be complete is a nice tribute to her, too.”
