JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A central Missouri convenience-store clerk with $28.96 in his bank account and a stack of utility bills to pay came forward Thursday as the winner of a $258 million Powerball jackpot.
Chris Shaw, 29, said he plans to use the winnings to pay off the $1,000 he owes a friend for a truck he recently bought, catch up on his utility bills, see a dentist about getting his two missing front teeth replaced, and take his three children and his girlfriend’s two children to Walt Disney World in Florida.
“We didn’t come from money. For us, it’s just going to be a huge relief to know I’m going to be able to pay my electric bill, my gas bill,” Shaw told The Associated Press. “It’s like a weight lifted. I had bills at home I didn’t know how they were going to be paid.”
Shaw said he bought the $5 ticket Wednesday at the Break Time convenience store where he works in Marshall, about 80 miles east of Kansas City.
The $258.5 million jackpot is the 10th-biggest Powerball jackpot ever. The winning numbers were 11, 34, 41, 49 and 55. The Powerball number was 20, and the Power Play number was 2.
Shaw said he will seek advice “from people who know about money” before deciding whether to take his jackpot in 30 payments over 29 years, or the lump-sum amount of $124,875,122.
