SUFFOLK, Va. — Call it beginner's luck, a Suffolk woman's first time buying a ticket for Virginia's New Year's Millionaire Raffle paid off.
Stacy Byrd was one of seven people with a $100,000 winning ticket, the Virginia Lottery said.
Byrd purchased her winning ticket at a Food Lion located on Holland Road just an hour and a half before the drawing. Lottery officials said she "was one of the last people to get in" the raffle.
“I started shaking!” Byrd said. “I told my friend, and she said, ‘You’re lying! You’re lying!'”
The Suffolk resident told lottery officials her winnings will go toward bills and possibly a new car.
The other $100,000 winning tickets were purchased in Henrico, Lynchburg, Manassas, Poquoson, Virginia Beach and Yorktown. Five other Virginia residents won big with $1 million tickets.
The winning ticket in Virginia Beach was purchased at Malbon Brothers Corner Mart, officials said. That winner has not been publicly identified at this time, however.
All profits from the Virginia Lottery are directed to K-12 education in Virginia. Suffolk received more than $10.3 million in lottery funds last year, officials report.
