Marie Holmes

Marie Holmes was 26 and a single mother of four from Shallotte, North Carolina, when a Quick Pick she bought at a Scotchman on Whiteville Road matched all five white balls and the Powerball in the draw of 11 February 2015. The $564.1 million jackpot was split three ways; her share was $188 million, the largest Powerball prize won in North Carolina. She took the lump sum of $127 million, about $87.9 million after taxes, claiming the prize on 23 February 2015. At the claim she said she planned to tithe to religious and charitable organisations, finish her college education, buy her mother a house and provide for her children, including a seven-year-old son with cerebral palsy. Her then-fiance, Lamarr "Hot Sauce" McDow, had been arrested on heroin-trafficking charges in November 2014, months before the win. Holmes repeatedly posted his bond as it was raised after breaches of his pre-trial release, reported at $1 million, then $6 million, then $12 million, paying roughly $600,000 in non-refundable fees to bail bondsmen. McDow was convicted on the 2014 trafficking charges and sentenced to seven years. In February 2021 he sued Holmes from prison over property he said was his.

McDow's suit, McDow v. Holmes (E.D.N.C., 7:21-cv-00017), alleged Holmes disposed of more than $1.4 million in cars, clothing, jewellery and a $600,000 auto-restoration business he said were his; it was filed on 4 February 2021 and the public docket records it as terminated on 6 August 2021 after Holmes moved to dismiss. That is the most recent documented development (2021).