A Lincoln Park, Michigan, woman who won $1 million in the Michigan Lottery and was later convicted for still collecting state welfare died Saturday from an apparent drug overdose.
Ecorse Police confirmed Saturday afternoon that Amanda Clayton, of Lincoln Park, was found dead at a residence on Sunnyside Street at 9 a.m.
Shortly after winning the lottery in March, Clayton's story garnered national media attention when she revealed she was still collecting $5,500 from the state in food aid and medical benefits .
Clayton, 25, pleaded no contest to fraud in June and was placed on six months' probation in July.
In August, four people were charged with felonious assault outside of Clayton's residence. The dispute, which involved a baseball bat, knife and toy gun, started as a disagreement over grass clippings between Clayton and her neighbor's lawns.
Clayton isn't the only Michigan Lottery winner to become notorious after making headlines.
In August, millionaire Freddie Young, of Detroit, was sentenced to 20 to 35 years in prison for fatally shooting his daughter's landlord.
Young, 64, was convicted on second-degree murder and felony firearm charges in the May 2011 killing of Australian native Gregory McNicol.
Prosecutors said Young won an estimated $1.57 million share of a Michigan Lottery jackpot in February 2011. Three months later, he shot 45-year-old McNicol over $1,000 in back rent owed by his daughter.
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Thanks to dpoly1 and emilyg for the tip.
The curse of winning a Jackpot....
I do believe that drug abuse was the "curse" in this case.
How sad, she could have had the world at her fingertips, RIP Amanda, may you find peace.
Maybe now michigan may consider anonymous also.
What a sad ending to what should have been a happy story.
May she rest in peace.
I hope she died broke or the rest of the $ goes to a good cause.
Very sad. Its a good lesson for lottery winners overall. Too bad for this lottery winner the price to learn was more than one should pay.
I will be extra careful now and resist as much peer pressure as possible to buy large quantities of cocaine when i win.
I knew those bolivians moving in next door was a bad luck sign.
Im sad
I liked her.
I can't believe this!
And she won on Sept 11th too hmm?
This is just terrible.
R.I.P.
Too bad she was not able to get some help with her winnings. People make bad choices. And sometimes those choices are fatal.
RIP Amanda, may you find the peace you seek in the afterlife.
This is sad. She was only 25 years old and drugs were the cause. I don't believe the lottery is cursed. That's ridiculous. If everyone who ever won the lottery died soon after, then I probably would believe a curse does exist, but until then, no.
I can't imagine the amount of harrassment she must have been going through once the story broke about her.
RIP
She might have been given an overdose by people she didn't want to share her winnings with.
RIP, very sad story
She had a pre-existing drug dependency, I think this drama and the money issue, just pushed her over the edge.
Sad that someone from within her family couldn't have helped her through this crisis.
Yup...as long as the agency that administers welfare gets notified automatically of all winners. Otherwise, she would have anonymously been collecting welfare along with her Lotto check, and quite frankly, that is not right or fair. And her logic for continuing to collect the welfare demonstrated the classic entitlement attitude this president seeks to ingrain in Americans...OMG!
Rest in Peace ........... a very young life lost ........................
I agree ....but its not all that sad
What does anonymity have to do with this story?
This was about bad decisions not about whether the winnings were known or not!!
Unfortunately many people die like this everyday and the lottery has nothing
to do with it, she made some very bad choices.
Waste.
So sad to hear this news. There are instances that can't be avoided.
I remember thinking this is one wicked female when it was reported that she still was on her bridge card.
Now I feel sad for her and her family.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fyHGcK7mBI&feature=fvsr
So sad. RIP Amanda.
We should all choose our friends wisely and even more wisely after winning the lottery.
even though she died from drugs her death will always be associated w/ the lottery,
if anonymous we would'nt be talking about it.
She was in the final stretch of putting her legal troubles behind her and could enjoy some of her lottery winnings. Too bad she had to do drugs. RIP
I disagree with the public not knowing about her case. Once Social Services filed a claim against her, the whole thing would have become public. She committed a crime.
I do agree, she made some pretty bad choices. And it seems none of her family had any control over her. She was her own girl.
There is a theory of there being a "curse" on Jackpot winners.
But again, so many winners make bad decisions with their winnings that end up causing deep depression, family bickering, a lot of spending on ultra expensive items that cause the winners to eventally cause the winners to file for bankruptcy.
I agree, it not a curse, but poor decisions, poor judgements and greed that cause the unfortunate outcomes for many winners.
I don't believe in lottery curses. I believe in responsible and irresponsible spending/managing of your winnings.
The latter took a role in this sad case.
I agree!!!....Amanda was young and made some very bad choices in her short life. (From ripping off the welfare system, to not getting herself some help with her winnings, may her soul rest in peace!)
RIP AMANDA 9/29/2012
A previous drug abuse history and a large amount of cash are not necessarily a good mix. It's a sad story, but not a new one to lottery winners and players.
I thought what she did was real bad until I seen the video on maringoman's post and agreed with what she did somewhat. If the state didn't cut her off and it was public records that she won, why would she think she shouldn't get it? It's like saying people who get Unemployment and play pick 3 or 4 and win $500 shouldn't get a check that week because the lottery had them covered financially that week.
Didn't she win her $1 million on a lottery TV game show witnessed by thousands of people?
The only Lottery related issue relevant to her death is some of her winning were used to purchase the drugs if in fact that was the cause of her death. The fact she won a large lottery prize really wasn't very news worthy until she was arrested and convicted of welfare fraud. Had she been allowed to claim the money anonymously, the Michigan State welfare agency would have still found the fraud and her arrest and conviction would still be made public.
There is no logical reason how publicly announcing the name of a lottery winner is related to a drug overdose unless you're suggesting she ODed to get more publicity.
There is no logical reason how publicly announcing the name of a lottery winner is related to a drug overdose unless you're suggesting she ODed to get more publicity."
That seems really short sighted on her part . . .
This is just so sad to read about, a young life wasted because of money
.........
It's been many years, but if I recall correctly, I had to check the correct "yes or no" boxes to be eligible for Unemployment Compensation and they all were work related. Never been on Welfare, but I assume there are minimum financial requirements that don't include getting an over $700,000 check from the state lottery.
It's really a sad story because she did have the opportunity to make her life much better.
You will b suprised that if you have conducted a survey on foodstamps and cash money you find a person who would rather take foodstamps instead of cash because all money aint good money !! some poeple get tooooo overwhelm and berzerk !! sad story r.i.p.
It's always sad when someone dies that young, especially for the family.
WTF I don't believe what I'm seeing here! First of all what's to be so sad here about her passing? From what I see here she got what she deserved! She was a bad person to do what she did to the system that was in place to help her until she was able to take care of herself! And by her winning the money she did she was now able to take care of herself without the system! And since she choose to scam the system by not reporting her new found wealth and means of being able to support herself she paid the ultimate price!! So in my eyes what goes around comes around and she got hers even if it was by her own hand by taking an overdose!! God works in many ways and he handed her his judgement for her bad deeds!! PLAIN AND SIMPLE!! THEIF THEIF THIEF Once a Theif, always a Theif!!
Heck I bet she'd steal anyone blind if she had the chance (even though she had 700K in the bank)!!!!
I once stole a pencil during my Algebra class. I'm just glad God didn't choose to end my life that day!
People in Michigan are so poor they don't have to lie to be on welfare......
Lets just hope you don't get judged by your own standards BaristaExpress.
I've heard Michigan people are so poor, that food stamps are automatically dispensed on the toilet paper rolls, in all public rest rooms.
In Michigan people are so poor, they get food stamps just for walking in the door of the food stamp office.
Michigan people are so poor, that they send postcards to the starving Ethiopian children, to see if they can spare any leftovers.
I remember when Americans talked about poor Chinese and now we're borrowing money from them.
We are paying back $8,000,000,00 per week (Billion) on the interest alone, to repay back our borrowed money.
I sure as heck hope I am! I've done my bad and I know I'm going to pay for it one day (if I haven't at some point already in my life). I never said I was a saint but I didn't willfully steal from the system that was put in place to help me when I couldn't help myself either LIKE SHE DID AND TO TOP IT OFF TO BRAG ABOUT IT!!!! So Ronnie316 your judgement day is comming just like the rest of us is too and I hope you don't get burned for your passing judgement (I just hate the holier than thou MFers such as yourself Ronnie316). And yes I said Hate not dislike....... stick that in your pipe and smoke it!!!!
Why thank you BaristaExpress, that could be the kindest thing anyone has ever said to me.
Per Week???? Thats more than I make.......
Oh yeah, try this one out for size.
Your the biggest scum sucking loser, I've ever had the pleasure to not meet.
(now that's the kindest compliment you've ever received!).
Im getting a warm feeling that this is my lucky day.... Workin on my MM slips now........
Ahh.....the old P.E.F. is returning. It's about time.
Ohhh yes... that 8 ball is always good for the ole "wake up call"..... Time to get back on my game!
I plan to do the same thing if I ever win, but with alcohol instead.
Very sad ...a lesson to be learned. Rip........ maybe gluttony was the real problem. Never having enough.
1 2 3 9 10 wow solo close,
Actually, she was kinda skinny.
Your life was spared McGinnin, unfortunately god didn't spare you from failing the test!
I have heard people in Michigan are so poor because they were screwed by GM.
GM had to be bailed out. (After declaring bankruptcy!!!) Although there was demand for their electric car GM refused to sell them, and manufacture any. Because the electric car was so anti big business, ie. OIL, instead of making the cars available fot sale, they took them off the market and destroyed them. DESTROYED THEM!!!! WTF???
Capitalism is a myth. I mean look at Monsanto. Nobody wants their sh*t. But they keep on pushing it. Forcing it. Talk about drug pushers!! And now they dont even want to label the food as GMO. What a crock of dung. Capitalism is the phoniest excuse for a business model that a Republican could ever come up with. WE DONT WANT YOUR POISON MONSANTO!! GO TAKE A LONG WALK OFF A SHORT CLIFF!!
This supply and demand system is totally f**ked. At least with a multi-billion dollar war on drugs, it wasn't to hard for this girl to score. And a final score at that. BTW, i dont think it was smart of her to take more welfare on top of her winnings. With some good investment advice and a small part time job. She could have actually paid back the state.
And it still is all STILL GEORGE W. BUSH'S FAULT!!!
What did that weasal do for the country??
Nothing!!! All he did was start two wars. Help deregulate Wallstreet, and just be a general liar and douchebag. The only thing uglier than Joe Bidens, satanic sardonic laugh
, is the memory of the idiotic retarted satanic laugh of boy George!!
9-11 was an inside job, and building 7 was, is, and always will be the key to that truth.
Some of you dim-witted republicans who like to say "You cant blame george bush forever" WTF!!
Thats like giving him a free ride. A pardon. Its like saying "Well you cant blame Hitler forever for the Holocaust"
F**king republicans always trying to rewrite history for their agenda. What a bunch of sociopaths!!!!