$10 Million Lottery Winner Sentenced To Prison after Being Found Guilty Of First-Degree Murder in Fatal Shooting of His Girlfriend

A man who won $10 million in the lottery in 2017 was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder of his girlfriend in 2020, according to North Carolina officials.

According to the News & Observer, Michael Todd Hill, 54, was found guilty of first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of his girlfriend, 23-year-old Keonna Graham, who was reported missing on July 20, 2020. She was later discovered dead in a motel with a gunshot wound to her head, according to officials.

Surveillance video captured Hill alone in the hotel room with Graham. According to a news release from the 15th Prosecutorial District of North Carolina, Hill later confirmed that he shot the footage after Hill claimed that she had reportedly sent other men messages. CBS News 

Maid staff found Graham laying on her stomach on the left side of a bed at the SureStay Hotel in Shallotte. 2020, WECT-TV reported. According to an autopsy report acquired by a news station, she was sleeping at the time of the shooting.

The day after Graham’s body was discovered, Hill was apprehended.

As per Yahoo, he was sentenced to life in jail without the possibility of parole on Friday, as well as 22 to 36 months in prison for felons in possession of firearms. This sentence will run concurrently with his life sentence. the News & Observer reported

In August 2017, Hill won $10,000,000 on a scratch-off lottery ticket. Hill elected to get his rewards in one lump sum. After taxes, this came to $4,159,101. Hill won while working at a nuclear power plant. WECT-TV reported on the incident at the time.