'I feel like the luckiest person alive': Statesville couple wins $110,000 on first lottery ticket

RALEIGH, N.C. — A Statesville couple said they couldn't believe their luck after they bought their first lottery ticket and won a $110,000 Cash 5 jackpot.

Angel and Sarah Martinez of Statesville said their good luck started when they stopped by the Home Run Market on Wilkesboro Highway in Statesville to get gas. While there, they bought a Quick Pick ticket for Sunday’s drawing.

“A friend of ours was also there getting a ticket,” Angel said. “We figured we’d get one as well. We were just messing around. We didn’t actually think we’d win.”

Their luck continued when his wife, Sarah, said she decided to check the ticket before throwing it away.

“My hand was literally over the trash can,” Sarah said. “But then I decided I should probably check it.”

When she realized the ticket matched all five numbers, she couldn’t believe it, she said.

“I started screaming,” Sarah said. “It feels fantastic!”

“I feel like the luckiest person alive,” Angel said. “I mean how often does that happen? It’s the first time I ever played the lottery and I won the jackpot.”

The couple claimed the jackpot Tuesday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh.

After required state and federal tax withholdings, they said they took home $77,825, some of which they are using to pay bills.

Their ticket beat odds of one in 962,598 to win the jackpot. Cash 5 is a statewide draw game that gives players the chance to win a jackpot every single night.

Tickets cost $1 and players can buy tickets at most lottery retailers or through Online Play on the lottery’s website. Jackpots start at $100,000.

Ticket sales from draw games like Cash 5 make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $650 million a year for education. For details on how $10.4 million in lottery funds made a difference in Iredell County last year, click on the "Impact" section of the lottery's website.

(The NC Educational Lottery contributed to this report)

Cox Media Group