Man who won $10M lottery prize sentenced to life in prison

A man who won a US$10 million lottery prize in 2017 has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Despite his incredible windfall, the man from North Carolina, is the latest example of tragic circumstances to befall a lottery winner.

Michael Todd Hill, 54, was sentenced to prison for the 2020 fatal shooting of his girlfriend.

Hill was convicted on Friday (local time) of first-degree murder in the killing of 23-year-old Keonna Graham.

Graham was reported missing on July 20, 2020. She was later found dead in a hotel with a gunshot wound to the back of the head, according to local media reports.

In a statement, prosecutors said surveillance footage from the hotel showed Hill was the only person in the room with Graham. They said Hill later confessed to shooting her after she had been texting with other men while at the hotel.

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The pair were in an "on again, off again" relationship, WWAYTV3 reported.

The now convicted murderer won US$10 million from a scratch-off ticket in August, 2017.

This story originally appeared on Yahoo News Australia.

With files from the Associated Press.