Lottery winner who was charged with welfare fraud, Amanda Clayton, found dead

ECORSE, MI - An autopsy has been completed on the Lincoln Park woman who was cutoff from state food assistance after it was revealed that she had won $1,000,000 in the Michigan Lottery.

Amanda Clayton's body was found in Ecorse Saturday morning. Results from the autopsy are pending.

Friends found the troubled lottery winner lying on the bed holding her 1-year-old daughter.

When she went to a home in Ecorse on Friday night to see her kids, 25-year-old Amanda Clayton appeared confused said her friend’s boyfriend.

“She was already in a bad stage.  Her legs were shaking.  You know she was going through her prayers.  She was eating food with the kids,” said the friend’s boyfriend who did not want to be identified.  He said they were babysitting Amanda’s daughter and young son.  It was Amanda’s daughter who couldn’t wake her up.

“She was right next to her sleeping.  They were watching a movie together. She started crying.  And that’s when Rachel walked in and she tried to see what was going on and she flipped her and she was gone,” he said.

Police said she died of an apparent drug overdose and was found at 9 a.m. Saturday.  Earlier this year, Clayton was charged with welfare fraud after it was revealed that she received state assistance after winning a lottery jackpot . She later pled no contest to the charge and we sentenced to probation.

“What’s $5,500? She paid it off.  She paid the money off,” he said.  He added that she was tormented by the fame and problems that came with winning the lottery.   

”So many people tried to take advantage of her, act like they are her friends just to get some money from her.  It gets to the point where you start questioning yourself.  Are they really my friends or are they using me?” he said.  “What’s the point of having money if you’re not going to have happiness?”

He said she did not want the money anymore and bought things for her family and set up college funds for her children.  He says she only had $67,000 dollars of her winnings left.

“All the money in the world can’t bring her back,” he said.

Scripps Detroit station 7 Action News spoke with Amanda’s mother by phone Saturday night. She said she did not want to talk.