A jury in Detroit is having trouble coming to a consensus in the murder case of synagogue president Samantha Woll.
On Friday, after three days of deliberations, jurors were deadlocked over whether Michael Manuel Jackson-Bolanos, 29, had committed the crime.
He stands accused of stabbing Woll at least eight times and was arrested for her murder in December 2023.
Jackson-Bolanos told the courtroom that while he found Woll's body, he played no role in the fatal attack.
When his attorney asked if he broke into Samantha Woll's townhouse and stabbed her last October, he repeatedly said, "absolutely not."
However, he acknowledged that he did not contact authorities to report what he had allegedly found.
"When I realized she was dead, I wanted nothing to do with the entire situation," he told the jury.
"I'm a Black guy in the middle of the night breaking into cars, and I found myself standing in front of a dead white woman. That doesn't look good at all."
The case against Jackson-Bolanos is mostly based on circumstantial evidence, and though police say there were spots of Woll's blood on the suspect's jacket and he was caught on surveillance walking in the area, there is no proof he was ever inside her home.
Jackson-Bolanos explained to the jury that he was tugging on car doors at 4 a.m. trying to find unlocked vehicles when he happened on Woll's body, according to The Associated Press.
His story suggested how her blood could have ended up on his coat.
"I didn't shake the body," he said.
"I just checked the neck-no air, no breath, or nothing. Once I realized I had just touched a dead person, I just grabbed the bag and left."
Fearing police may target him due to past criminal convictions, he decided not to contact authorities as he would have to explain what he was doing there in the middle of the night.
Samantha Woll, 40, was found dead outside her home on October 20, 2023, after she returned from attending a wedding.
Law enforcement personnel said that they found no signs of forced entry and that an anonymous caller alerted emergency responders after finding the dead body at around 6:30 a.m.
The Jewish leader was a well-respected synagogue president known to be politically active.
She previously worked for Democratic U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin and on the political campaign of state Attorney General Dana Nessel.
The trial, which began on June 11, will resume on Monday, July 15.
