NORTH CAROLINA - A man from Brunswick County who won the lottery prize of $10 million is now facing a charge of murder and is behind bars.
The 52-year-old, Michael Todd Hill is now in the custody of the Southport authorities and charged with murder by the Shallotte Police Department after a housekeeper discovered the body of the 23-year-old, Keonna Graham dead in a third-floor room of the Sure Stay Hotel at around 11:30 a.m. on Monday.
Sure Stay Hotel manager Vee Patel shared that the room on the third floor of the building where the incident happened has blood.
The Shallotte Police Department shared that the 52-year old suspect of the murder was in an on-and-off relationship with the victim. A friend of Graham also mentioned that Hill had gotten married recently, which is another angle that the authorities are looking at, Crime Online reported.
The manager of the hotel stated that the 52-year-old suspect checked into the hotel by himself on Sunday morning. Patel also mentioned that none of his employees ever saw Graham entering the Hotel.
According to Newsbreak, the Hotel's checkout time is at 11 AM. Since it was past the time to check out, housekeeping knocked into the room door numerous times. But despite several attempts of knocking, there was no responset. Hence, they went inside and found the victim. After discovering that the girl was unconscious, they immediately called 911.
The Hotel Manager stated that there was blood in the room. He added that its the first time they experienced an incident like this.
The housekeeper who discovered the body of Graham is still in a state of shock, and is currently taking a time off.
Based on the report, Graham worked as a correctional officer at a prison in Burgaw.
A close family friend, Tiffany Wilson shared that Graham is a very loving and beautiful person. She also mentioned that what happened to Graham was horrible and she does not understand why a person who just won the lottery will kill a young girl.
Hill won a $10 million prize in 2017 after purchasing an Ultimate Millions scratch-off ticket at a gas station. According to the gas station employees at that time, Holl returned to the station and gave the clerk who sold him the ticket $2,000.
Based on the reports, in 1988 and 1989, Hill has a felony for breaking and entering convictions for incidents that happened in the same years. He also committed an armed robbery in 1992.
Currently, Hill is on hold in the Brunswick County Detention Center with no bond following his first appearance in the court yesterday. Jon David, District Attorney, shared that Hill was given a court-appointed attorney after filling out an affidavit of indigency.
As of the moment, the case is still ongoing and the family and friends of Graham are hoping for a conviction after they lost a loving person and a beautiful friend.
