INSIDE: DETROIT/ HEART-TRANSPLANT PATIENT MAKES PROGRESS; BUSINESS/ FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS FACE UNIQUE CHALLENGES. 750 V DETROIT THE JEWISH NEWS 16 TAMMUZ 5755/JULY 14, 1995 Horror Beyond Belief, Anguish Beyond Words Did a local woman murder her daughter, or are police unfairly targeting someone who already has suffered too much? In exclusive interviews before her arrest last week, Linda Jean Solomon tells her story. Although it's the brunt of many jukes, quilt is not unique to Jews. ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM ASSOCIATE EDITOR Show Biz Casts A Shadow Southfield neighbors dread new multiplex. JULIE EDGAR STAFF WRITER A - L inda was born in Detroit and lived what she and those who know her well describe as a terribly difficult childhood. Both parents worked, and the children were expected to do just about everything around the house. This was especially true of Linda, the eldest. Linda said she doesn't remember her parents once saying, "I love you," and her UNDA page 25 1 Gendel loves the movies, but mount a legal challenge to the $35 million that's beside the point. project — a distinct possibility according He and other Southfield res- to Ms. Smith — it may be a foregone con- idents living along 12 Mile Road clusion. have been fuming over the im- Opposition could also come from the minent construction of a glitzy 20-screen Franklin Foundation, a coalition of envi- cineplex on 12 Mile, just west of Telegraph ronmentalists that, by virtue of a 10-year- in Southfield. old consent judgment, has a say in how Mr. Gendel, 76, believes the newest jew- the property will be used. el in the Loeks-Star Theatres chain, to be constructed on prop- erty owned by the Galleria office complex, will intensify the already nightmarish traffic outside Wellington Place Manors, where he and his wife, Frieda, have lived for 23 years. So does Isabel Smith, a 20-year resident of Wellington Place whose apartment faces a steady stream of cars and trucks on 12 Mile. She has organized protest marches against the "mega com- plex," claiming it will aggravate Frieda and Al Gendel at the site of the theater driveway. the traffic congestion and road noise. Already, the Knights of Columbus The Franklin Village Council, to which Hall next door is about to enlarge its ban- the foundation transferred authority, was quet facilities, Ms. Smith pointed out. to take up the issue of traffic and crime But unless residents of Wellington and concerns at Monday's meeting, but took surrounding apartment and condo com- it off the agenda at the foundation's plexes gain the financial momentum to SHOW BIZ page 8 PHOTO BY JEFF KOWAL SKY - ' he last dress Chelsea Solomon ever wore was from Montgomery Ward. It was green, red and gold, very feminine and fancy, the kind of outfit a little girl might wear to a party. I The dress came with an attached belt, but much of that is gone now. It had been cut off at both ends and made into one long strip. Something was needed to cover the scar 2 on Chelsea's neck when family came to see her body before the funeral. Six-year-old Chelsea Joy Solomon of Canton died Jan. 29 of asphyxia by hang- ing. Linda Her mother, 47-year-old Solomon at Linda Solomon, has main- 35th District tained from the start that the Court. death was an accident. She said Chelsea caught her neck in a piece of plastic strapping attached to the top of Chelsea's bunk bed. Linda's 22-year-old son, Jordan, stands behind her. \-, Their relationship was "frustrating at / times," he said. But "it didn't get to the point where this (murder) would have happened — no way. I'm not going to be- lieve my mother killed my sister." But after an extensive investigation, Canton police last week charged Linda Solomon with first-degree premeditated murder and a second charge of homicide felony murder-child abuse. The pretrial hearing is set for next -month. month. Meanwhile, Judge Ronald Lowe 35th District Court in Plymouth has ordered a competency evaluation of Ms. Solomon, who is being held without bond. In court, Ms. Solomon appeared pale and weary. Dressed in black, she stood beside her court-appointed attorney, Gregory Demopoulous, denying prose- cution charges that she is a risk for sui- cide and that her mental state is questionable. > Handcuffed, she later exited the court- room, admonishing reporters to "be back when I'm exonerated." Then she draped her long hair across her face and was gone.