The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office in Detroit announced on December 14 that the man arrested in connection to the fatal stabbing of synagogue president Samantha Woll in October has been formally charged, CBS News reported.
According to Prosecutor Kym Worthy, 28-year-old Michael Manual Jackson-Bolanos of Detroit was charged with felony homicide murder, home invasion, and lying to a peace officer.
Worthy confirmed that there is no evidence suggesting that the murder was a hate crime or that the suspect knew Samantha Woll.
Woll, who was the president of Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue in Detroit, was found stabbed to death outside of her LaFayette Park home on the morning of October 21. The 40-year-old Woll had attended a wedding on Friday, October 20, and returned home sometime around midnight.
Police found no evidence of forced entry into Woll’s home and believe that she was stabbed inside her residence and then made her way out into the front yard where she was later found dead.
Detroit police revealed on Sunday, December 10 that they had taken a second person of interest into custody. The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office confirmed the following Tuesday that it had received an arrest warrant request from Detroit police.
Jackson-Bolanos was not the first person taken into custody for Woll’s murder. In November, Detroit police arrested another person of interest who was released without charges three days later. That suspect was never identified by police.
According to court records, Jackson-Bolanos has previous criminal convictions from 2014 and 2019 for receiving and concealing stolen property. He was sentenced to prison for the first conviction and received probation for the second.
Jackson-Bolanos will be in court later this month for a probable cause hearing.
Rabbi Asher Lopatin, who has known Woll for more than five years, said it had been frustrating not knowing if the police would ever find the person who murdered Woll. He urged the Jewish community to light a candle as a way to remember Woll, saying, “she was that brilliant light that lit up our community with hope.”
