LAKELAND, Fla. (WTSP) -- What are the odds?
The story of Abraham Shakespeare's murder three years after taking home $17 million captivated the nation. Now Shakespeare's former girlfriend, Antoinette Andrews, has won the lottery herself.
Andrews is also the mother of Shakespeare’s teenage son. Another son, Raheeme Dumas, said she’s too scared to talk on camera but still excited that she won big.
“She just was crying and screaming on the phone and I was like, 'are you sure it's not a thousand dollars?' You know what I mean, 'or a hundred thousand dollars,'” Dumas said, describing the moment his mom told him the good news. “I asked her to send me a picture of the ticket, and when she did, I called her back freaking out.”
Andrews won a million bucks from the $20 Monopoly scratch-off. She knows what can happen after hitting the jackpot. She was with Shakespeare when he picked up his winnings in 2006.
Three years later, he went missing, and in 2010, police found his body under a concrete slab behind a home in Plant City.
Deedee Moore is serving a life sentence for Shakespeare’s murder. She befriended him after he won the lotto.
Dumas said they’ve learned from what happened to Shakespeare.
“Just watch who you trust and just be careful about it,” he said.
Dumas is planning to get a car, and they might buy a new house. Other than that, they plan to lay low, hoping the good fortune lasts this time.
“No one has really asked for anything. They just call and say congrats, and you just say, 'Okay, thank you,' and you hang up,” he explained. “You just don't give them a chance to ask for anything.”
Antoinette Andrews chose the lump sum option, so she's taking home about $770,000. She plays the lottery every single day.
