Shakespeare's mother blames Moore for slaying

The mother of lottery winner Abraham Shakespeare said today that she believes his former business associate, Dorice Donegan "Dee Dee" Moore, masterminded the plot behind his death but that others were involved.

Elizabeth Walker said she believed for a long time that her missing son was going to show up alive. She thought he would come home for Thanksgiving or Christmas. But he didn't, and she decided that the stories she had been told - that Shakespeare was alive - were lies.

Shakespeare, 43, went missing in April, although his family didn't report him missing until November. His remains were found Thursday, buried behind a home in the Plant City area. He was a victim of "homicidal violence," according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.

Moore, who denies killing Shakespeare, was arrested this week. She was charged with being an accessory after the fact of a first-degree murder. She is being held on $1 million bail.

At a news conference today, Walker said her son was a kindhearted person. She last saw him sometime around April, when he gave her his CD player because hers was broken.

Walker said that if Moore needed money, Shakespeare would have given it to her.

She said she was deceived by Moore, who previously took her to Walt Disney World and Busch Gardens.

"I feel angry," she said of Moore. "I feel hurt, disappointed."

Shakespeare won an estimated $30 million Florida Lottery jackpot in late 2006. Not long after he bought a million-dollar home in early 2007, he was approached by Moore, family and officials said. Moore said she was interested in writing a book about Shakespeare's life and became something of a financial adviser to Shakespeare.

Moore moved more than $1 million from Shakespeare's bank accounts into her own after he was last seen, Polk County deputies say.

Moore's attorney could not immediately be reached for comment.

Pastor H.B. Holmes, a close family friend of Walker, told the media today that Moore was a "devil in disguise.

"This lady is a professional con artist, and she has deceived a lot of people."

Holmes said one lie unleashed into the community was that Shakespeare had AIDS. That simply wasn't true, Holmes said.

Shakespeare was killed sometime between April 6 and 7, at 5732 State Road 60 E. just outside of Plant City, according to a probable cause affidavit.