Family says Detroit couple was killed over lottery ticket

Family members of a couple who was found stabbed to death in their Detroit home say a lottery ticket may be to blame.

Tierra Evans said she thinks bad luck came in the form of a winning ticket for her parents, 71-year-old William and 61-year-old Brenda.

“The motive was a lottery ticket,” she said.  

Evans said she thinks whoever targeted them wanted the ticket.

Two weeks ago, Evans said her father hit the lottery and told everyone he was a winner before cashing in the ticket.

“So, it was someone that he knew,” she said.

Other family members are struggling to get through the grief, saying the couple loved to garden and help out in the community.

“They was a nice couple. I want everybody to know that,” said Marcus Jefferson.

Phylis Foster learned of her sister-in-law’s death when she tried calling to wish her a Happy Mother’s Day.

“I didn’t’ get an answer on the phone. In the meantime, while I was calling her, someone called me and told me about it,” Foster said.  

Police have said the home in the 3100 block of Lenox was known as a place for illegal drug deals. But the family vehemently denies the allegation.

“They were not drug dealers. This is not a drug house,” Evans said.  

The couple’s four children are making a plea for the public to help turn in whoever is responsible for the killings.

“I just ask that if anybody know anything, just please. Because they didn’t deserve this, my daddy helped the community. He would have done anything for anybody,” Evans said. “They could just have got the ticket and left them alive.”