Abraham Shakespeare Murder Details and Investigation Timeline

In 2009, the Florida lottery winner, Abraham Shakespeare, suddenly vanished from the face of the earth, leading to speculations that he had started a new life away from the limelight. Unfortunately, the truth was darker than that, as his remains were found buried deep on a property in Plant City, Florida. The case is the subject of ABC’s ’20/20: Unlucky Numbers,’ which dives into the details of the intense investigation that led them to the perpetrator. The episode also features interviews with Abraham’s loved ones and officials linked to the case.

Abraham Shakespeare’s Lottery Winnings Eventually Became the Reason For His Demise

Born on April 24, 1966, in a financially unstable household in Lakeland, Florida, Abraham Lee Shakespeare was raised by Elizabeth Walker and his father, both of whom were orange pickers. In order to support his parents and provide for his siblings, Abraham quit school after sixth grade and did anything he could to help. Being a hard-working person, he took up cleaning jobs at various places, including a barber shop, where he made a friend named Greg Smith. On the side, he also had a part-time job working on trucks. Having led a life full of struggles and hardships, he had no idea what fate had in store for him.

On November 15, 2006, Abraham stopped by a Town Star convenience store in Frostproof, Florida, where he purchased lottery tickets by lending a few dollars from his co-worker, Michael Ford. Later, he turned out to be the winner of the Florida Lotto winning ticket worth $30 million, receiving a total of $17 million. The rags-to-riches story made him a popular figure in the community. Having a heart of gold, he shared his winnings with his family and friends. With his life transformed entirely, he purchased a $1 million house in the Redhawk Bend, a gated community in North Lakeland. He reportedly also spent his winnings on buying a Rolex watch and a Nissan Altima. At the time, he was in a relationship with Sentorria Butler, with whom he even shared a son named Jeremiyah.

On the flip side, Abraham also faced the side effects of winning the lottery. He was constantly bothered by acquaintances and even strangers, who asked him to give them a portion of his money for different purposes. His growing frustration even made him believe that he was better off before. About three years after he won the lottery, on November 9, 2009, he was reported missing by his family members when they were unable to get in touch with him. They claimed that they had not physically seen him since April of the same year. Hoping that Abraham was simply hiding to avoid people, his loved ones were shocked to learn of his unexpected death. On January 29, 2010, the police found his body buried under a concrete slab in a Plant City property. The autopsy revealed that the 42-year-old man was shot to death back in April 2009.

The Police Suspected Multiple Individuals While Searching For Abraham

After Abraham Shakespeare went missing, the authorities interviewed his family, friends, and acquaintances to learn about his life and the circumstances surrounding his disappearance. They had suspicions about three individuals — co-worker Michael Ford, cousin Cedric Edom, and business partner Dorice “Dee Dee” Moore. When Abraham won the lottery, Michael demanded $1 million out of his winnings and even sued him in 2007, claiming that his former co-worker had stolen the lottery tickets out of his wallet. However, the jury did not buy his story. Upon interviewing both Michael and Cedric, the police were able to eliminate them as possible suspects in the case.

The police, then, turned their attention to Dorice, who had filed for bankruptcy in 2002 before meeting Abraham at a business conference. When the authorities dug deeper into her past, they learned that she had lied about getting beaten in order to file for an insurance claim. In 2001, she was found guilty of falsely reporting a crime and insurance fraud. After getting close to Abraham, she became his financial advisor and business partner as they launched Abraham Shakespeare LLC, and had control of the company’s funds. Reports suggested that she spent thousands of dollars on luxury vehicles and vacations, claiming that it was a gift from the lottery winner.

The Killer Was Caught With the Help of Abraham’s Friend

In the weeks following his disappearance, Dorice told his loved ones that he had started dating someone other than his then-girlfriend and moved to Orlando to start afresh. The owner of American Medical Professionals also claimed that she had helped him get his finances under control so that he could get away and disappear. Eventually, she not only became the owner of Abraham’s million-dollar home in North Lakeland but also started living in it. In light of her history and suspicious claims related to him, she was considered the prime suspect in the case of Abraham Shakespeare.

While the authorities zeroed in on her, she got in touch with his friend, Greg Smith, and paid him to talk to the missing man’s mother by pretending to be her son. When the detectives learned about it, they convinced Greg to work undercover for them and wear a wire while holding conversations with her. Gradually, he managed to earn Dorice’s trust and got her to talk about the disappearance of the 42-year-old man. She eventually claimed that a guy named Ronald was responsible for killing him. That’s when he also introduced Mike Smith, an undercover police officer, to her as someone who would take the fall for the murder.

Eventually, she led Greg to her property in Plant City, where Abraham’s remains were found by the police. A few days after digging up his remains, the police finally arrested Dorice Moore on February 2, 2010, on a $1 million bond. On February 19, she was formally charged with the first-degree murder of Abraham Shakespeare. Nearly three years later, on December 10, 2012, she was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in addition to 25 years for using a gun in the commission of a felony.