A Charlotte woman who won $150,000 from a lottery in October was shot and killed Monday night.
Dionyah Thompson, 23, was killed in a murder-suicide in front of a restaurant in the Queen City’s South End neighborhood.
WCNC reported that the shooting happened when Thompson and her date exited a restaurant and walked toward their car. Police said that’s when the shooter pulled up in a red vehicle and fired his weapon at the pair. Thompson died after being shot, while the man accompanying her sustained minor injuries.
The suspect, identified as 33-year-old Elie Hugo Noel, then took his own life, police said. Authorities say Thompson was Noel’s ex-girlfriend.
According to the North Carolina Education Lottery, Thompson won a $150,000 prize in October after buying a $5 scratch-off from a 7-Eleven in Charlotte.
A bar manager at the Vinyl restaurant where the shooting happened said he was unaware of the commotion outside the establishment.
The manager said he only realized what happened when some employees told him about it.
“A customer who was on the patio had seen it,” the manager told WCNC. “They came in in a shock and a panicked state saying somebody had gotten shot and some of my bar staff grabbed me from my office and I dialed 911.”
Thompson’s family told WBTV that she was “funny, joyful and someone who enjoyed socializing and cooking.”
