TAMPA, Fla. — A woman was convicted Monday of first-degree murder in the slaying of a lottery winner in central Florida and sentenced to mandatory life without parole by a judge who called her “cold, calculating and cruel.”
Dorice “Dee Dee” Moore showed no emotion as a jury foreman read the verdict. Judge Emmett Battles sentenced her to an additional minimum mandatory 25 years for using a gun in the commission of a felony.
Moore has 30 days to appeal. If she decides to, she will be assigned a public defender. The attorney appointed by the court to represent her at trial, Byron Hileman, will no longer represent her.
“I can sleep good at night because I know I had done the very best job,” Hileman said. “I feel sad for the victim. I feel sad for their families. I feel sad for the defendant because these types of cases are no-win situations.”
Jurors deliberated for more than three hours before finding Moore guilty of the first-degree murder charge prosecutors had lodged against her in the death of Abraham Shakespeare, who won millions in 2006. Shakespeare’s mother was in the courtroom, but showed no emotion.
“She got every bit of his money,” said Assistant State Attorney Jay Pruner in closing arguments. “He found out about it and threatened to kill her. She killed him first.”
Hileman argued that there were other potential suspects whom prosecutors refused to consider.
“There were a lot of people who owed Mr. Shakespeare a lot of money. One guy owed him a million dollars,” he said during his closing arguments. “The police focused on Dee Dee Moore and they didn’t even consider other people.”
