ATLANTA (AP) — A Georgia woman who bought just one ticket and used family birthdays and lucky No. 7 to choose her numbers was one of two winners of the $636 million Mega Millions jackpot, the second-largest in U.S. history.
ATLANTA (AP) — A Georgia woman who bought just one ticket and used family birthdays and lucky No. 7 to choose her numbers was one of two winners of the $636 million Mega Millions jackpot, the second-largest in U.S. history.
Lottery officials in Georgia identified the winner as Ira Curry, of Stone Mountain, which is east of Atlanta. Curry will take a lump sum of $123 million after taxes, Georgia Lottery chief executive Debbie Alford said.
“She has not decided how she’ll spend those winnings,” Alford said at a news conference that Curry did not attend.
The other winning ticket was sold at a gift shop in San Jose, Calif. The winner there has one year to come forward.
Curry was driving to work Wednesday when a radio announcer talked about the Mega Ball being No. 7. Curry knew that was her Mega Ball number, so she called her daughter to check the ticket.
“Between joyful tears and laughter on the daughter’s part, she relayed to her mother that her mother had won the lottery,” Alford said.
Alford wouldn’t say where Curry worked or how old she was. A person who answered the phone at a listing for Curry said, “We are not interested in any publicity, thank you for calling” and then hung up.