Former Fulton DA dies at 80

ATLANTA - Lewis Slaton, who prosecuted some of Atlanta&#39;s most famous murder cases in three decades as Fulton County district attorney, died Monday at the age of 80. <br> <br> Slaton&#39;s cases included those of Wayne Williams, in the missing and murdered children saga of the 1980s, and Marcus Wayne Chenault, who killed the mother of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. <br> <br> Slaton died at Piedmont Hospital of complications from Parkinson&#39;s disease. <br> <br> When Slaton announced in 1996 that he would not seek a ninth term as district attorney, it surprised lawyers across Georgia. <br> <br> ``He&#39;s such an institution, and he&#39;s always there. You just never think of him not being there,&#39;&#39; former Attorney General Mike Bowers said at the time. <br> <br> Slaton considered the Williams trial and the Chenault trial as the most memorable. <br> <br> On Monday, Vernon Pitts Jr., the Fulton County public defender since 1985, said Slaton was ``a class act.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> ``He was probably one of the best politicians in the history of Fulton County. He cared about people,&#39;&#39; Pitts said. <br> <br> Slaton&#39;s funeral is 1 p.m. Wednesday at Second-Ponce de Leon Baptist Church in Atlanta.