A drive down the tiny stretch of road that forms Joliet Place on Detroit’s east side barely qualifies as a tour. Less than 20 seconds after turning onto the secluded path it dead-ends at the grassy playground to the rear of Chrysler Elementary School. Most residents in the adjoining townhomes that line Joliet have become accustomed to the lack of traffic in the 1300 block, where vehicles rarely travel past a parking space along the curb or inside one of two private lots. In fact, neither vehicles, noise, nor other occurrences seem to draw much attention on an average day — which is why the bloodied figure of a woman discovered outside around 6 a.m. on Oct. 21 shocked neighbors.
Along with the location of the body in proximity to her home, a head covered with dark, curly tresses and a face appearing younger than its 40 years soon identified Samantha Woll as the victim of a fatal stabbing. She was socially and politically engaged, a force for good in the city, press statements and countless social media sentiments would reveal.
“I am shocked, saddened and horrified to learn of Sam’s brutal murder,” read a post by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, whose re-election campaign Woll supported. “Sam was as kind a person as I’ve ever known. She was driven by her sincere love of her community, state and country. Sam truly used her faith and activism to create a better place for everyone.”
Two months after the killing Detroit Police had made no arrests, saying only that they investigated a suspect on one occasion, and most recently, a “person of interest” — before announcing Dec. 13 that Michael Manuel Jackson-Bolanos, 28, was charged with felony murder during attempted larceny or home invasion.
Despite the charges, which bring some relief to many of Woll’s loved ones and friends, public speculation and curiosity about her life and why she met such a violent death remain throughout much of the city and far beyond.
Friends and family say Woll’s many titles, including co-chair of the American Jewish Committee’s ACCESS Detroit Young Leadership Program, a founder of the Muslim-Jewish Forum of Detroit, and one of Jewish News’s 2017 “36 under 36” gave just a glimpse of her drive and commitment. Woll’s brother-in-law, Benjamin Rosen, told mourners at her Oct. 22 Hebrew Memorial Chapel funeral service he was reminded of the biblical Noah, who let no one leave the ark until he was sure the earth was safe, following a flood described in the Book of Genesis.
“When the world flooded around her, Sam took charge,” said Rosen, glancing toward Woll’s casket. “She did not wait for God to make things right, even if she had faith that God would.”
For all of Woll’s widely acknowledged selflessness and dedication to supporting others, those who publicly mourned her grew more silent weeks after the crime. Multiple Metro Times interview requests of Rabbi Ariana Silverman and executive director Rachel Rudman at the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue, where Woll served as board president, received no response. An email message sent to an address associated with the Muslim-Jewish Forum of Detroit also went unanswered.
The time between the Oct. 23 police announcement that there was no evidence of religious hate crime — amid a rise in antisemitism reports as Israel wages war in Gaza — and the charges against Jackson-Bolanos felt anxious for many in Woll’s sphere: Social media posts from as far away as the Middle East expressed dismay or posed questions about updates in the investigation.
Among rumors circulating were that a member of Woll’s Jewish faith might be involved, or that her community activism might have made her a target of violence. Details of the true crime are expected to play out in widely observed criminal proceedings for Jackson-Bolanos that will be held in 2024. The setting will be a courthouse in the same downtown Detroit vicinity where Woll lived, often worked, and worshiped.
Historic land
Lafayette Park, as the neighborhood has long been known, sits in the tall shadow of Hollywood Casino at Greektown’s hotel. A national historical marker at Rivard and Joliet designates the area, renowned for its glass mid-century modern townhouses designed by German-American architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. On a chilly Monday afternoon in December, Joliet reveals no sign of the gruesome violence Woll suffered there, or of the terror present in its immediate aftermath. A lone dog-walker approaching the street gently pulls his pet’s leash towards the corner before disappearing down a short path toward a building’s inner complex. The most ostentatious window on either side of Joliet displays a rainbow-colored pride flag, while a few other facades are adorned with modest Christmas decorations. It’s the fifth day of Hanukkah and the city’s annual “Menorah in the D” celebration is scheduled to continue hours later in Campus Martius, less than a mile from Woll’s old address.
Residents such as “Tori B.,” who posted a comment on the trulia.com website’s “neighborhood overview,” have grown accustomed to Lafayette Park’s calm surroundings.
“Very nice and quiet,” Tori B. wrote three years ago. “No violence and very peaceful. Love the ambiance, never have to worry (about) disruption or dangerous events occurring. Neighbors are pleasant and nobody really bothers one another.”
To Woll’s misfortune, it appears that Jackson-Bolanos was never one of her pleasant neighbors, prosecutors say. He’d been linked to thefts from cars parked in the area and apparently grew bold enough to break into the home of an unsuspecting Woll.
“There are no facts to suggest that this defendant knew Miss Woll,” Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said during the media announcement of Jackson-Bolanos’s arrest.
“There was an incredible amount of work that was done in the investigation,” she added. “In this case, it was not easy. But again, there was a lot to look at.”
Jackson-Bolanos is also charged with making false statements to police during their investigation, which located him in the area near the time of Woll’s murder.
Susana Dean, president of J.S. Dean & Associates property management, is familiar with the neighborhood. Her company had served Joliet Co-op, where Woll resided in unit 1366, for about a year before she realized the friendly face she recalled from another building she manages had moved in.
“I remember running into her in the lobby and she’d be on her way in, or on her way out,” Dean says. “If you said ‘hi’ to her she wouldn’t just say ‘hi” and keep walking, she’d stop. She’d kind of bow and say, ‘Hi, how are you?’”
When she wasn’t out in the community, Broderick Tower’s lobby might seem a logical place to catch a glimpse of someone as active as Woll. She was “always in a hurry,” despite her willingness to exchange greetings, Dean says, adding that Woll had a “beautiful, joyful” spirit. Woll was known to be generous toward staff at Broderick Tower, giving tips or gifts during the holiday season, and socializing at the annual Christmas party for residents.
Moving the short distance to Joliet Co-op from the 124-unit, high-rise environment at Broderick, in the heart of downtown, marked a change of scenery for her. Either direction on Woodward Avenue leads to clubs, restaurants, concert venues, and shopping outlets within strolling distance of Broderick’s front door, in contrast to Joliet Place’s tucked-away subdivision.
“It’s very woodsy,” Dean adds. “There’s tons and tons and tons of trees over there. It’s kind of lush.”
There were occasional, petty crimes reported in the neighborhood, but break-ins like the one that allegedly led to Woll’s death were not a major concern, Dean says. What the co-op and other nearby properties have lacked is secure fencing or similar barriers, she adds: “If people can walk onto your property with ease, it’s never good.”
But no matter where Woll had chosen to live, Dean never fathomed her falling victim to violence.
“We were all shocked,” she says.
“I can’t imagine her having even one enemy. It was very hurtful to hear about that.”
‘Beautiful Sam’
From an investigative standpoint, many crime experts would find Jackson-Bolanos’s arrest surprising. Woll was stabbed multiple times and stabbing is generally viewed as a more emotion-driven form of violence associated with personal familiarity between the victim and attacker. Unlike shooting, stabbing requires the type of direct contact more typical of vengeance or passion, experts say. Slashing, choking, or beating are also more common in domestic conflicts when the victim and attacker share physical space than when an attacker preys upon a stranger.
“It’s a very complex case, as the prosecutor has indicated,” Detroit Police Chief James White said at the announcement of Jackson-Bolanos’s charges. “This is not a case that you can solve, like on television, where you’re 30 to 45 minutes into the storyline, you know who did what and how the case is going to end. We follow evidence.”
Regardless of the case’s eventual outcome, Woll’s friends and admirers say her death is senseless. Property manager Dean wasn’t the only acquaintance who couldn’t conceive of anyone wanting to harm Woll, let alone kill her.
“Sam. Beautiful Sam,” writes a friend from college, Jenny Nathan Simoneaux, in “Sam Woll Changed the World.” The tribute is published online at Nu?Detroit.
Nathan Simoneaux recalls spending time with Woll at the University of Michigan that consisted of advocating and organizing, even before Woll began a career rooted in service. Their student years also included “way too much fun giggling the night away in her third-floor bedroom at the top of the stairs” Nathan Simoneaux writes, and “riding around Ann Arbor at all hours, because we needed Slurpees or apple pie.”
“Being in Sam’s life meant being family,” she adds. “It meant Passover Seders in her parents’ West Bloomfield basement that would go late into the night and include the most fascinating collection of relatives, friends and, most likely, an acquaintance or two she’d recently met.”
Nathan Simoneaux recounts frequent “drama,” arguing and reconciling with Woll, while also crediting their friendship with having a lasting, positive impact on Nathan Simoneaux’s character.
“We won’t stop caring, and we won’t stop loving each other and believing in humanity — even in light of this brutal tragedy,” she concludes, “because her life meant more than that, and we will carry her with us as we find a way to carry on.”
Dr. Meier Muller, an ordained rabbi and a professor at the University of South Carolina, agrees that a proper way to memorialize Woll is to follow her life’s example. Muller didn’t know Woll or her family, but learned about her death through the widespread media coverage it generated.
“Judaism is a religion of deeds over creeds,” says Muller. “Judaism has directives that have been followed for thousands of years.”
While Jewish tradition prescribes practices for mourning Woll, the rabbi says an ability to move beyond mourning could include engaging with folks of different backgrounds, as Woll was said to do.
“I am remembering that this person was also involved in interfaith relations between Jewish and Muslim people,” he says. “So we lost someone on a personal level, on a community level, someone who is so desperately needed between Jewish and Muslim people.”
“Thinking, ‘How can we be better?’” is a starting point for honoring Woll, Muller says.
Being more generally mindful of dialogue with others is also a step in the direction of the unity she promoted, Muller adds. Conscious thoughts, such as “Wait, that’s not the kind of tone we should have,” or “Those aren’t the kinds of things we should say,” are meaningful, he says.
The news of an arrest in the killing brought a public statement of gratitude from Woll’s family, which also requested privacy.
Jackson-Bolanos was charged mid-way through the eight-day observance of Hanukkah, known as the Festival of Lights.
“Obviously, like a death that takes place close to any festival, it creates a bittersweet atmosphere where you have the laws of the holiday and the family is lighting their holiday candles,” says Muller, “but the joy is gone.
“It’s a very joyous date on the Jewish calendar. I worry that, for quite a while, Hanukkah will be a sad holiday for that family.”
Lee DeVito contributed reporting to this story. This article was updated with additional information.
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