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Samantha Woll, 40, a local Democratic Party adviser who was also
president of the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue, was slain by an
intruder who broke into her home in Detroit's Lafayette Park
neighborhood on Oct. 21, authorities said.
Detectives have found no indication that the suspect, Michael
Jackson-Bolanos, 28, of Detroit, had known Woll, and there is
"not a shred of evidence" suggesting she was the victim of a
hate crime, prosecutor Kym Worthy said at a news conference.
Jackson-Bolanos, arrested on Sunday, was charged with felony
murder, breaking and entering and lying to a police officer,
Worthy told reporters.
He entered a plea of not guilty at an arraignment on Wednesday,
according to a spokesperson for the Wayne County Prosecuting
Attorney's Office.
Jackson-Bolanos had been briefly held for questioning a few
weeks ago in connection with a series of larcenies, then
released but kept under close observation as detectives
continued their investigation, Detroit Police Chief James White
said.
Another man detained as a suspect in early November and freed a
few days later was found to have had no connection to Moll's
killing, Worthy said.
Authorities have said since a few days after Woll's slaying that
the crime did not appear to have been a part of the recent surge
in antisemitic incidents reported in the U.S. since the outbreak
of the Israeli-Hamas war on Oct. 7.
But until Wednesday, law enforcement officials declined to
conclusively rule out the murder as a possible hate crime.
Worthy declined to say whether Jackson-Bolanos had a past
criminal record.
(Reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Lincoln
Feast.)
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