Nursing student wins $7 million in Georgia lottery

By Joel Provano

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A nursing student from Columbus is getting a little help with her tuition from the Georgia Lottery.

Mattie Billingsley, 49, won $7 million playing the lottery's new $7 Million Jackpot scratch-off game.

“I can’t stop crying,” Billingsley said in a press release from the Georgia Lottery. “They’re tears of joy.”

Billingsley bought two tickets, and she and her husband learned they were millionaires at home Thursday.

“We gave each other a really big hug,” she said. “It was just awesome.”

Billingsley claimed her prize Friday. She bought the winning ticket at the Citgo Food Mart on Fifth Street in Columbus.

An even larger jackpot is up for grabs in Friday night's Mega Millions drawing. The winner of a single ticket would win $41 million before taxes, or $30 million by taking the cash option.

Larger still is the Powerball jackpot Saturday. The total payout is a whopping $310 million, or $193.4 million with the cash option. If no one wins that drawing, the Powerball could flirt with record territory ($365 million in 2006) for the next drawing Wednesday. The record for Mega Millions is $390 million in 2007.