Veteran prosecutor named to DA's gang unit
In nine years as an assistant district attorney with the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office, Cross made a name for himself prosecuting and convicting deadly murderers and gang members.
Noteworthy among the cases he successfully prosecuted in Fulton are the death penalty trial of De’Kelvin Martin, who was convicted for murdering his girlfriend’s grandparents and 12-year-old son, the 30 Deep gang robbery and murder that resulted in the January 2009 death of Atlanta bartender John Henderson, and the trial for the Jack Boys robbing crew that led a murderous month-long crime spree through Atlanta in 2010.
DeKalb District Attorney Robert James welcomed Cross to the office.
“We’re pleased to add a prosecutor of Lance’s caliber to our ranks,” James said.
Cross is a graduate of Georgia State University Law School and Hawaii Pacific University where he earned a degree in Political Science, and he was a prosecutor in Paulding and Cobb counties before moving to Fulton County.
Cross also served as an explosives ordnance disposal diver during his six-year career in the U.S. Navy.
He replaces Antonio Veal, whose work in the gang unit helped build cases against, among others, members of the Georgia H.A.T.E. Committee of the Gangster Disciples and members of the Rollin’ 60s Bloods. Veal recently left to join a national private law firm.
“I look forward to working with DA James and helping him to build the best gang unit in the nation,” Cross said.