Great-grandmother in Columbus carols over $12,000 win

ATLANTA – A Columbus woman is caroling with holiday joy over her $12,000 lottery win. Inell Davis, 72, won her prize playing the Georgia Lottery's KENO!

Davis was out with her granddaughter when they stopped at Steam Mill Food Mart, 4451 Steam Mill Road in Columbus, where she purchased her lucky combination.

"There was a bell that went off," she said. "When I found out how much I won, I almost passed out."

With seven adult children and "a whole bunch of grandchildren and great-grandchildren," Davis said she anticipates putting extra presents underneath the family tree.

Since its first year, the Georgia Lottery Corporation has returned more than $11.2 billion to the state of Georgia for education. All Georgia Lottery profits go to pay for specific educational programs including Georgia's HOPE Scholarship Program and Georgia's Pre-K Program. More than 1.2 million students have received HOPE, and more than 940,000 4-year-olds have attended the statewide, voluntary prekindergarten program.