The split verdict last week in the trial of the man accused of murdering Samantha Woll, a Detroit Jewish leader and Democratic operative, has left Jews in the Detroit area feeling unresolved, local Jewish leaders told JNS.
Jurors found Michael Jackson-Bolanos innocent of first-degree murder but were deadlocked on charges of felony murder and home invasion, and found the defendant guilty of lying to police officers, the Detroit Free Press reported.
“Everyone is thinking of Sam’s family. Everyone is filled with love and sadness, and is sad this has not been resolved,” Rabbi Asher Lopatin, director of community relations at the Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor, told JNS.
“I know that if humans cannot do it, God will make sure justice is done for the precious memory of Sam, of blessed memory,” added the Orthodox rabbi and former executive director of the JCRC/AJC of Detroit. “The entire Jewish community is committed to continuing to follow Sam’s ways and her legacy.”
The Woll family told the Free Press that it is “stunned and deeply saddened by the outcome of this trial, as there is overwhelming evidence that Michael Jackson-Bolanos took our beloved Samantha’s life.”
“Samantha spent much of her life working toward justice, and it pains us that justice for Samantha has not yet been served,” the family added. “We will not rest in our pursuit of justice on her behalf.”
Rabbi Jason Miller, who knew Woll since childhood, told JNS that “Sam’s unimaginable and tragic loss continues to resonate deeply within the Detroit Jewish community.”
“She was a talented leader with strong convictions and a passion for improving our fractured world,” the Conservative rabbi said. “We can only imagine the legendary impact she would have continued to make.”
