Questions Linger About Lottery Winner Found Dead

DETROIT (WWJ) A  private visitation will be held Tuesday at the Voran Funeral Home in Allen Park for Amanda Clayton, 25, the downriver lottery winner who died over the weekend from a suspected drug overdose.

And as friends and family memorialize Clayton, questions remain about her death.

"It's just sad because I lost a son two years ago, he had a heart attack at 40 years old, so I know what she's going through," Sheryl Shonfeld said, adding that's she's close friends with Clayton's mother Eulene. "To bury a child, no matter what they did or how they died, is the most horrible thing in the whole world."

Clayton, the mother of two children, was convicted of welfare fraud for collecting payments after she won $1 million in the Michigan Lotto. She also had a prolonged child custody battle with an ex, and high-profile skirmishes with neighbors.

But Shonfeld said Clayton seemed happy the last time she saw her.

"They say probably the root of all evil is money, I think it is," she said.

Shonfeld added that friends believe Clayton died after a night of drinking and taking prescription medication.