A man who previously won the lottery was sentenced to life in prison for murdering his girlfriend (Photo: North Carolina Education Lottery/Brunswick District Detention Center).

A man who won $10 million in the lottery in 2017 has been sentenced to life in prison for the fatal shooting of his girlfriend.

Michael Hill, 54, was sentenced to life in prison in 2020 for the murder of his girlfriend Keona Graham of more than a year.

Hill confessed to the murder and told police he shot Graham, 24, in the back in his sleep after hearing he was texting another man.

Graham received a gunshot wound to the back of the head. She was found by a housekeeper in a hotel room at Sure Stay, Charlotte, North Carolina, in July 2020.

According to a news release from the North Carolina 15th District Law Firm, surveillance footage showed Hill was the only person in the hotel room at the time of Graham’s murder.

He was arrested by police the next day, pleaded guilty and told authorities that he and Graham had been in a relationship for 18 months when he discovered that she was talking to another man while with him.

Friday’s jury trial lasted just an hour before Hill pleaded guilty to her murder. He was also sentenced to up to 36 months in prison for possession of firearms.

According to The News & Observer, Hill first appeared when he won the $10 million lottery in 2017.

He told local media at the time that he bought the first lost ticket before trying his luck in the second game. When he checked his ticket, he discovered his victory that “changed his life”.

“I saw one, then zero, and it still didn’t work for me,” he told the North Carolina Education Lottery at the time. But then I saw an “M”. My heart sank to my toes and I lost my breath. ”

Hill worked at a nuclear power plant while winning the lottery. He was arrested for Graham’s murder in July 2020 at the age of 52.

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