Local

Burglar shot in home invasion gets 10 years

WALTON COUNTY, Ga. — A burglar shot multiple times during a home invasion will spend 10 years in prison for the crime.

Channel 2's Kerry Kavanaugh was the only reporter there when Paul Ali Slater pleaded guilty to burglary charges Tuesday morning. The judge sentenced him to 20 years, with 10 years to serve, and also banished Slater from Walton County.

Investigators said Slater broke into a Loganville home on Henderson Drive in January and pursued a woman and two children inside. Investigators said Slater broke through a bedroom door, a bathroom door and a closet door before he reached an attic crawl space where the woman was clutching a .38-calibur handgun.

"The crawl space was there. I figured there might be a safe or something there that might obtain jewelry or something. That was the only door I opened, the only door," Slater said.

The mother shot Slater five times.

In court, Slater denied going after anyone. He insisted he thought the home was empty.

"I knocked on the door. I tried to take every precaution to make sure I was going into a vacant home," he said.

Slater suggested that he committed the crime for his family. His lawyer previously said Slater has six children.

"Times is rough for my family, and I made the decision to commit a crime. I was going in the house to steal some jewelry," Slater said.

Online records show Slater was released from jail on battery charges in August, and he has been arrested six times since 2008.