Atlanta

Dexter Scott King, youngest son of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., dies at 62

By WSBTV.com News Staff
By WSBTV.com News Staff

ATLANTA — The King Center announced that Dexter Scott King, the youngest son of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, died on Monday. He was 62.

Family members say that King died after a battle with prostate cancer.

“He transitioned peacefully in his sleep at home with me in Malibu,” his wife, Leah Weber King, 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.”

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Dexter Scott King was born on Jan. 30, 1961, the third child born to Martin Luther King Jr and Coretta Scott King. Dexter Scott King graduated from Frederick Douglass High School, where he played football, and Morehouse College in Atlanta.

He later served as the chairman of the King Center.

King is survived by his wife of 11 years, Leah Weber, sister Dr. Bernice King, brother Martin Luther King III, and his niece Yolanda Renee King. He is preceded in death by his father, mother, and sister Yolanda King, who died suddenly in 2007.

“Words cannot express the heartbreak I feel from losing another sibling. I’m praying for strength to get through this very difficult time,” Dr. Bernice King, the youngest of the King children, said on Monday.

“I am deeply saddened to share that my brother, Dexter Scott King, has passed away. The sudden shock is devastating. It is hard to have the right words at a moment like this. Please keep the entire King family in your prayers, and in particular, Dexter’s wife, Leah Weber,” Martin Luther King III said.

A memorial service will be announced at a later time.

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