Dexter Scott King, the youngest son of legendary civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, has died. He was 62 years old.
A statement from King’s family confirmed that he passed away Sunday in California after a battle with prostate cancer.
“He transitioned peacefully in his sleep at home with me in Malibu,” his wife, Leah Weber King, said in a statement from the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change. “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”, she added.
Dexter King was born on January 30, 1961, and was named after Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, where his father was a pastor.
King attended his father’s alma mater, Morehouse College, and later went on to be the chairman of the King Center, leading the efforts to protect his family’s legacy and intellectual property. He was also president of the King Estate.
“He was the family member delegated to take on the mantle of continuing the precedent his father set by legally protecting his work,” according to the family statement. “He devoted his life to the continued perpetuation of his father’s legacy and the protection of the intellectual property his father left behind.”
In his 2003 memoir, “Growing Up King,” Dexter King addressed many subjects, including the impact of his father’s assassination in 1968, when he was seven years old.
His sister, the 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.”
Martin Luther King III, the King’s 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.”
The family says that details for a memorial service will be announced at a later date.