North Carolina lottery winner charged with murder of young woman found dead in hotel room
07/22/2020 7:02 pm PDT
via WECT:
BRUNSWICK COUNTY, N.C. (WECT) -- A Brunswick County man who won a $10 million lottery prize nearly three years ago is now behind bars after he was charged with murder.
Michael Todd Hill, 52, was taken into custody in Southport on Tuesday and charged with murder by the Shallotte Police Department after the body of Keonna Graham, 23, was discovered in a room at the SureStay Hotel around 11:30 a.m. Monday.
WECT-TV spoke with the hotel manager there. Vee Patel said Hill checked into the hotel, alone, on Sunday morning. Patel said none of the employees ever saw Graham. Checkout time at the hotel is 11 a.m., and housekeeping knocked on the room door several times. After no response, they went inside and found an unconscious woman and called 911. Patel said there was blood in the room.
Hill was held in the Brunswick County Detention Center without bond following his first court appearance this week. According to District Attorney Jon David, Hill was given a court-appointed attorney after filling out an affidavit of indigency.
In 2017, Hill won a $10-million lottery prize after purchasing an Ultimate Millions scratch-off ticket. After winning the lottery, he reportedly went back to the store where he bought the ticket and gave $2,000 to the woman who sold him the winning ticket.
The Wilmington Star-News reports Graham was involved in an on-and-off relationship with Hill, according to Shallotte Police.
Hill has previous felony convictions in the late 1990s and early 1990s, the Star-News reports.
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