More to suicide than gambling losses, friends and family say

Sunday, March 5, 2000 | 9:47 a.m.

But Bell's friends and family members say there was much more to his suicide than his blackjack losses. To them, the 38-year-old Bell had a troubled family history, was distraught about a rejected marriage proposal and couldn't handle the idea of being labeled a loser.

"I don't think anyone really knew who the real Sol was," Cedric Sawyer, Bell's friend and Oak Park's director of public information, told The Detroit News for a story Sunday. "He was always very private about his personal life."

Bell was the first black sergeant in the history of the Oak Park department. He began his law enforcement career in Highland Park, where he was wounded in the line of duty in 1987 while trying to catch a suspect, then joining the Oak Park force later that year.

He was working on his bachelor's degree from Wayne State University and had his sights set on becoming police chief.

"He was honest, conscientious, meticulous in his appearance and made an excellent supervisor," Oak Park Public Safety Director Bob Siefert said.

But family members say despite his professional success, Bell remained troubled by his mother's decision to leave the family when he was just 6 years old. His mother was white, his father black.

"It has been over 30 years since we last saw our mother," said brother David Bell, 39, of Southfield. "All I can say is that it must have been difficult for a white woman to be married to an African-American during that period of racial tension in the '60s. It may have been too much to handle."

Bell was raised by his aunt in Detroit, along with two of her children and his three siblings, brother David and sisters Shamane H. Bell, an attorney, and Yedi H. Berryman, a homemaker.

Bell's father, Preston, contracted tuberculosis after his wife left him, separating him from his children for 15 months before rejoining them in Detroit. He was 61 when he died of a brain aneurysm in 1993.

"I know he visited his father, but it wasn't like they were always over@each other's houses," said a cousin, Atiba Sanyika, a 42-year-old Detroit fashion designer.

Bell did have another father figure in his life, real-estate investor Norman Howery. The two were members of a ski club and took ski vacations together with the group. Bell and Howery also spent time together at the Northland Rollerskating Rink.

"Norman was probably the main person he shared all of his secrets with," said fellow ski club member Joann Johnson, 51, of Southfield.

Howery died last June.

"It had always been the three of us at the skating rink," said Donnie Pelzer, 49, of Detroit, Bell's friend of 20 years. "But I was injured in a car accident and could no longer skate, and then Norman died and I think Solomon just felt kind of lost after that."

Six months later, Bell suffered another blow. Just 13 days before he would kill himself, 31-year-old Cheri Cowan of New Hudson turned down Bell's offer of marriage.

"I loved him very much," Cowan said.

The pair had dated on and off for seven years and she had rejected several of his earlier marriage proposals.

"But I just could not accept his proposal until I felt he could be faithful. He was very hardworking, had a lot of integrity and loved his job. I just didn't believe he was ready to settle down. But I would give anything to have him here right now."

Friends say Bell started gambling about three years ago. Bill Moner, 71, was a friend of Bell's and at the MotorCity Casino the day he died. Moner said Bell told him he wasn't at the casino to play, but rather to win. Moner said Bell told him he had $10,000 and was heading to the VIP level.

"I left the MGM Grand Detroit casino because I never win over there," Moner said Bell told him. "So I thought I'd try to win over here."

Bell killed himself three hours later.

Just weeks before, Cedric Sawyer said Bell had described how police in Oak Park had stopped a woman distraught over gambling debts from killing herself.

"It's not going to get me like that," Sawyer said Bell told him.