Durham woman takes home $1 million lottery prize, first of three

DURHAM, N.C. -- A Durham woman went home with a jackpot prize after becoming one of the first to claim the top prizes in the Big Money game.

Margarita Mendez bought her lucky $10 ticket at Han-Dee Hugo's on N.C. West in Cary.

Mendez claimed her prize on Friday and went home with a whopping $424,503 after required state and federal tax withholdings.

The Big Money game started in December with three top prizes of $1 million. Two of the prizes have yet to been claimed.