Woman Who Killed Florida Lottery Winner Now Supports Keeping Winner Names Secret

A bill to keep Florida lottery winners’ names secret for 90 days after they win awaits the governor’s signature and has since received support from a woman who was convicted of killing one of those winners herself.

The bill was passed by the Florida House in a 114-1 vote, and then it passed the state Senate 37-1. If signed into law, lottery winners of $250,000 or more will be made anonymous for 90 days unless they wish to be publicly identified. “Unfortunately for some people, that dream of winning the lottery, sometimes those dreams become a nightmare,” said Rep Tracie Davis (D-Jacksonville), when speaking about lottery winners becoming crime victims.

In a phone interview from prison, the bill’s supporter, Dorice Donegan “Dee Dee” Moore, 49, said she agreed with the measure because releasing winners’ names “puts a target on them.” Donegan was convicted in 2012 for first-degree murder related to the shooting of Abraham Lee Shakespeare, a man who won $30 million in the lottery. Moore approached Shakespeare under the guise of writing a book for him, but she convinced him to send her his remaining $1 million in winnings after he spent most of it giving it away or paying off the mortgages of friends and family.

After Moore spent the money on a home, Hummer, Corvette and vacation, Shakespeare’s body was found in her backyard with gunshot wounds in the chest. Her conviction was upheld in 2015 and 2019, but Moore still denies killing Shakespeare and has said she plans to continue appealing the decision.

However, Moore even said she felt like the 90 days established in the new bill wasn’t even enough time. “You’ve got to understand. This person has to change their whole life around,” she said. Moore also added that it put winners in danger to disclose whether they chose to receive their winnings in a lump sum or in payments over time.

Only one Republican representative and one Republican senator voted against the bill. Rep Anthony Sabatini (R-Clermont) simply said “people want to know who won the lottery –– a government-run, taxpayer-funded program.”

Anyone can currently learn the name of lottery winners, city of residence, which game won, date won and amount won by simply requesting the information from the Florida agencies that operate the lottery. This will only apply to public citizens, as the bill allowed for state agencies, courts, government auditors and legislative leaders to still be able to request those records within the 90-day window in order to be able to collect on debts or other payments.