Killing of Samantha Woll

Samantha "Sam" Woll (June 15, 1983 – October 21, 2023) was a Jewish community leader, founder of the Muslim-Jewish Forum of Detroit, the president of Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue in Detroit, Michigan. On October 21, 2023, she was found stabbed to death outside her home. Her killing, amid increased tensions during the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, drew international attention, but police ruled out antisemitic motivations for her slaying.

Early life
Woll graduated from Hillel Day School (1997), Cranbrook Kingswood Upper School (2001) and attended the University of Michigan.

Career
Woll was the founder of the Muslim-Jewish Forum of Detroit. In 2015, in the wake of the November 2015 Paris attacks, she helped bring high school students of Muslim and Jewish faith together through an essay and art contest in a public event at Wayne State University organized through Greater Detroit Muslim Jewish Solidarity Council. U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib called Woll a friend and an organizing community member.

From c.2017, Woll served as Detroit's Jewish Community Relations Council/AJC board of directors member and was co-chair of the AJC's ACCESS Detroit Young Leadership Program.

In 2017 she was selected by the Detroit Jewish News as one of their "36 under 36".

From 2019 to 2021, she worked as deputy district director on the political campaign of Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin. She also worked on the re-election campaign of Attorney General Dana Nessel.

Woll became president of the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue in 2022.

Death
On October 21, 2023, Woll was found stabbed to death outside her home in Detroit's Lafayette Park neighborhood. She was 40. Her killing, during the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, drew international attention, but police ruled out anti-Jewish motivations for her slaying.

In early November, Detroit Police arrested a suspect, whom The Detroit News reported was an acquaintance of Woll, then released that person without charges.

On December 10, a different "person of interest" was arrested for Woll's murder. The suspect, Michael Jackson-Bolanos, 28, of Detroit, was officially charged with murder, home invasion and lying to investigators on December 13. Woll's blood was found on his jacket. He entered a plea of not guilty.