Want a really happy new year? The Mega Millions jackpot for Friday, Dec. 27, is an estimated $1.1 billion.

The winning numbers will be drawn just after 10 p.m. Central, and the cash option is $516.1 million.

A $1.1 billion-winning ticket was sold in New Jersey earlier this year, and that prize was just claimed this week, nine months after the drawing. In Mississippi, drawing winners must claim their prize within 180 days, and if you win, you can claim it anonymously.

Here’s what you need to know about top jackpots and how to play Mega Millions in Mississippi, including where you can buy tickets and how to claim the prize if you win.

Where can you buy lottery tickets?

More: Did anyone win the Powerball jackpot last night? See winning numbers for Dec. 25 lottery drawing

Tickets can be purchased in person at gas stations, convenience stores and grocery stores. Some airport terminals may also sell lottery tickets.

How to play the Mega Millions

In order to buy a ticket, you’ll have to visit your local convenience store, gas station or grocery store. In a handful of states, you can purchase tickets online, but Mississippi isn’t one of them.

To play, you will need to pick six numbers. Five numbers will be white balls ranging from 1 to 70. The gold Mega Ball is one number between 1 and 25. 

If you believe the odds are against you, ask for a ”Quick Pick” or an ”Easy Pick,” the computer will randomly generate the numbers for you. 

Players can add the ”Megaplier” for $1, which can increase non-grand prize winnings by two, three, four or five times. The Megaplier is drawn before the Mega Millions numbers on Tuesday and Friday.

There are 15 Megapiler balls in all:

• 2X, five balls.
• 3X, six balls.
• 4X, three balls.
• 5X, one ball.

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What are the top Mega Millions jackpots?  

According to the lottery, the following jackpots are the Top 10 jackpots that have been won as of Oct. 4:  

1. $1.602 billion, Aug. 8, 2023; a Florida player  
2. $1.537 billion, Oct. 23, 2018; a South Carolina player  
3. $1.348 billion, Jan.13, 2023; a Maine player  
4. $1.337 billion, July 29, 2022; an Illinois player  
5. $1.128 billion, March 26, 2024; a New Jersey payer 
6. $1.050 billion, Jan. 22, 2021; a Michigan player 
7. $810 million, Sept. 10, 2024; a Texas player 
8. $656 million, March 30, 2012; a player from Illinois, Kansas and Maryland 
9. $648 million, Dec. 17,2013; a player from California and Georgia 
10. $552 million, June 4, 2024; an Illinois player  

I won the lottery in Mississippi! What next?

The Mississippi Lottery advises people to sign the back of their winning ticket immediately.

If your prize is less than $600, you can claim that at any place that sells Mississippi Lottery tickets.

If you win $600-$99,999, you can claim by mail or by going to the Mississippi Lottery Headquarters in Flowood.

All prizes more than $100,000 must be claimed at the Mississippi Lottery Headquarters.

CNN
 — 

A convicted murderer who escaped from a Mississippi state prison on Christmas Eve was captured Wednesday, according to a Mississippi Department of Corrections post on Facebook.

Drew Johnson was captured in an area near the prison, the post said.

Sentenced to life in prison on Valentine’s Day in 2022, Johnson managed to escape from Mississippi’s newest state prison in Greene County nearly three years later on Christmas Eve, according to the Mississippi Department of Corrections.

Authorities in Mississippi had described Johnson as “desperate” and “very very dangerous.”

“Call your family and alert them. Send messages to them and get responses,” the George County Sheriff’s Department warned about the prison escape in a Facebook post. “People tend to be more generous during Christmas and let their guard down. Be vigilant and be careful.”

The 33-year-old has a violent criminal history spanning multiple states. In 2022, he pleaded guilty to a series of unrelated violent crimes, according to a news release from Tennessee’s Shelby County District Attorney’s Office. In 2016, Johnson fatally stabbed an acquaintance more than two dozen times, later abandoning the victim’s body in a field in southwest Memphis.

His violent behavior persisted behind bars. While incarcerated in Tennessee in 2021, Johnson attacked another prisoner, repeatedly striking him in the head with a brick, according to the district attorney’s office. Johnson also pleaded guilty to setting multiple fires while in jail in 2019.

Johnson received a life sentence without the possibility of parole for murder, along with 15-year sentences for each of his other crimes, all of which are to be served concurrently, according to Shelby County District Attorney’s Office.

He also has a pending murder case in Rankin County, Mississippi.

The convicted murderer broke out of South Mississippi Correctional Institution in Leakesville on Tuesday around 3:30 p.m., according to an alert from the Greene County Emergency Management office, shared by police in neighboring George County.

The Mississippi Department of Corrections, with the help of other authorities, is searching for a prisoner who escaped Tuesday afternoon from the South Mississippi Correctional Institution in Leakesville.

Drew Johnson, 33, has blond hair and blue eyes. He weighs 200 pounds and is 6 feet tall.

Johnson was sentenced in 2022 to life in prison for a homicide/murder in Rankin County.

Anyone who believes they may have seen Johnson should contact the nearest law enforcement agency.