Tennessee Winners Claim $61M Mega Millions Jackpot
Wednesday January 15th 2014The holders of the $61 million jackpot winning ticket from the Mega Millions drawing on January 3 2014 have come forward to claim their prize. The winners came forward on Friday at the Tennessee Lottery headquarters in Nashville and were identified as Tina Still and her son Jonathan, both of Nashville.
Tina and Jonathan told officials that they waited a week to claim the jackpot while they considered their options and spoke to a financial advisor. Tina, who previously worked for the State of Tennessee, and her son Jonathan, who works for the Tennessee Department of Transportation, have been playing lottery games together for years and will split the prize money.
“I am truly grateful for this blessing. I have played the Lottery since it first arrived in Tennessee and have always believed that I could win,” Tina said. “As I keep telling my friends: You can’t win if you don’t play.”
Tina and Jonathan opted to receive their win in a cash-lump sum payment and didn’t comment on what they would do with their winnings.
The win marks the 131st time that a Tennessee Lottery ticket holder has won $1 million or more. In addition, this win is not only the first Mega Millions jackpot win since the state joined the lottery in January 2010 but also the largest prize ever won in Tennessee lottery history.
Other Mega Millions News
Last night’s Mega Millions results revealed that no ticket holder successfully matched all five main numbers and the Mega Ball drawn to win the jackpot, resulting in the jackpot rolling over to $41 million. To view the results from last night’s draw, visit the Mega Millions Winning Numbers page.
Written by Samantha Jones