Woman stops for soda — and wins top North Carolina lottery prize. ‘I’ve got big plans’
A North Carolina lottery player says she plans to invest her top prize in her pet grooming business.
Leatha Davis of Fairmont recently stopped at a store in Lumberton and bought a Mountain Dew and a $5 scratch-off Ruby Mine 9X lottery ticket, according to a Tuesday news release from the North Carolina Education Lottery.
“I frequent this store and I usually get a drink, some cigarettes and I’ll pick a ticket,” she told lottery officials. “I walked up and my eyes went straight to Ruby Mine.”
Davis went back to her car, where she scratched the ticket and realized she won $200,000.
“I said, ‘It can’t be,’” she said, according to the news release. “My son was with me and he got in the car and he’s like, ‘You gotta be kidding me. For real?’”
She claimed her prize Monday and took home $141,501 after taxes, according to the lottery.
“I’ve got big plans for it,” Davis told lottery officials. “It’s going to help me with my business that I just opened in March. I have a pet grooming shop. It’s going to mean a lot to me.”
After her win, one top prize remains in the Ruby Mine 9X game, the lottery said.
