Dexter Scott King, the youngest son of Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, has died, the King Center announced Monday.
King, 62, died after a “valiant battle with prostate cancer,” the King Center said.
Leah Weber King, King’s wife of 11 years, said in a written statement that her husband “transitioned peacefully” in his sleep at their home in California.
“He gave it everything and battled this terrible disease until the end,” Weber King said. “As with all the challenges in his life, he faced this hurdle with bravery and might.”
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Dexter Scott King died Monday after a battle with prostate cancer, the King Center announced. (Moses Robinson/WireImage)
King was born in Atlanta in 1961. He was named after Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, where his father served his first pastorate.
He was just seven years old when his father was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1968.
Dexter Scott King, left most, pictured at the White House in 1998 with his mother, Coretta Scott King, and siblings, Rev. Dr. Bernice A. King and Martin Luther King III. (Gerald Martineau/The The Washington Post via Getty Images)
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King followed in his father’s footsteps and attended Morehouse College in Atlanta. While a love of the arts led him to move to California to pursue an acting career, he ultimately devoted himself to legally protecting his father’s legacy and intellectual property surrounding the King family’s work.
Dexter Scott King, right, is survived by his sister Rev. Dr. Bernice A. King, center, and his brother Martin Luther King III, left. His other sister, Yolanda, died in 2007. (Paras Griffin/Getty Images)
He served as chairman of the King Center at the time of his death.
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King is survived by his wife, his sister Rev. Dr. Bernice A. King and his brother Martin Luther King III. He was preceded by his mother, who died in 2006, and his sister Yolanda, who died in 2007.