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 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 of 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 Jewish Community Relations council of Detroit. “The entire Jewish community is committed to continuing to follow Sam’s ways and her legacy.”
