Dexter Scott King, the son of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., has died. He died at the age of 62.
King in California after a battle with prostate cancer, his family confirmed in a statement.
In a statement from the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change, his wife, Leah Weber King, said her husband “transitioned peacefully in his sleep at home with me in Malibu.”
She said: “He gave it everything and battled this terrible disease until the end. As with all the challenges in his life, he faced this hurdle with bravery and might.”
His sister, Rev. Bernice King, the youngest of the siblings said: “Words cannot express the heartbreak. I’m praying for strength to get through this very difficult time.”
In another statement, Martin Luther King III, the Kings’ oldest surviving child, said: “The sudden shock is devastating. It is hard to have the right words at a moment like this. We ask for your prayers at this time for the entire King family.”
Dexter King went to Morehouse College and later became the chairman of the King Center, leading the efforts to safeguard his family’s legacy and intellectual property. Also, he was the president of the King Estate.
In his 2003 memoir, “Growing Up King,” Dexter King addressed a lot of subjects, including the impact of his father’s assassination in 1968, when he was 7 years old.
Dexter King was named after Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, a church his father pastored in the 1950s.
Dexter King’s mother, Coretta Scott King, died in 2006 while his sister, Yolanda King, died in 2007.
