An Indiana man has been charged with the brutal murder of his ex-wife, a surgical resident at the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, who was found brutally murdered in her apartment on Sunday.
Samantha Woolery’s co-workers went to check on her when she didn’t show up for work and found her apartment door closed but unlocked. Inside, they found the 42-year-old Woolery’s body with visible cuts, WANF reported.
Marietta Police said that her ex-husband, 49-year-old Mickey Woolery, was arrested in Carmel, Indiana, after they identified him as the suspect in his ex-wife’s death. Investigators say he drove back to Indiana after killing her.
Marietta Police Officer Chuck McPhilamy told WAGA that Woolery tried to flee from police in Indiana.
“He attempted to run from the officers. He was later apprehended in a wooded area behind the home,” McPhilamy said. “This is a violent fugitive that is now being held accountable.”
Warrants say that investigators found a machete near Samantha Woolery’s bed and bloody footprints leading to her front door, according to WANF. Doorbell video captured Mickey Woolery leaving the apartment late Saturday night with blood on his hands, feet, and pants.
The warrants also say investigators found a clear bloody fingerprint on a wall that matched the ex-husband’s right thumb.
Woolery has been charged with felony and malice murder, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, and possession of a weapon during a crime, WXIA reported.
The Morehouse School of Medicine released a statement noting that Samantha Woolery had been named 2023 Surgery Intern of the Year at the school.
“Dr. Woolery, known for her kind spirit and exceptional ability to connect with others, was set to begin her categorical residency,” the statement said. She was to begin her residency at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta.
Woolery’s sister Tamika Jones said the couple had no history of domestic violence.
“We’re just in total shock,” Jones said. “We just couldn’t believe that this … that he would have done this. Like, no way.”
But the couple’s teenage daughter, Naeema Woolery, told WANF she suspected her father was the killer.
“I kind of had an idea, but I just didn’t want to believe it,” she said. “But I never would think that he would ever lay his hands on my mom, of all people, because my mom really stuck her neck out for him. And at the end of the day, she always wanted to see the best in you.”
Court records in Hamilton County, Indiana, say the Mickey Woolery was charged with “felony domestic battery committed in the presence of a child less than 16 years old” in 2022, but the case was later dismissed.
Jones told WXIA that her sister was born in Jamaica and came to the United States dreaming of becoming a doctor. She began her career as a nurse, she said, and then went back to school for master’s and doctorate degrees in Michigan before coming to Morehouse.
Woolery is the second Morehouse School of Medicine resident found dead in less than a month. Diamond Clarke, 28, was found dead in a wooded area in DeKalb County on May 28, as CrimeOnline reported. She had been shot. Police, however, said her death appears to be suicide, and they are awaiting a final report from the medical examiner’s office.
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[Featured image: Samantha Woolery/GoFundMe. Inset: Mickey Woolery/Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office]
