Dexter King, son of the late civil rights chief Martin Luther King Jr., listens to arguments within the State Court of Criminal Appeals in Jackson, Tenn., Friday, Aug. 29, 1997, to find out whether or not two Memphis judges overstepped their authority surrounding the investigation of the King assassination. The King Center in Atlanta stated the 62-year-old died Monday at his California dwelling.

Helen Comer/The Jackson Sun through AP

cover caption

toggle caption

Helen Comer/The Jackson Sun through AP

Dexter King, son of the late civil rights chief Martin Luther King Jr., listens to arguments within the State Court of Criminal Appeals in Jackson, Tenn., Friday, Aug. 29, 1997, to find out whether or not two Memphis judges overstepped their authority surrounding the investigation of the King assassination. The King Center in Atlanta stated the 62-year-old died Monday at his California dwelling.

Helen Comer/The Jackson Sun through AP

ATLANTA — Dexter Scott King, the youthful son of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, died Monday after battling prostate most cancers.

The King Center in Atlanta, which Dexter King served as chairman, stated the 62-year-old son of the civil rights icon died at his dwelling in Malibu, California. His spouse, Leah Weber King, stated in a press release that he died “peacefully in his sleep.”

The third of the Kings’ 4 youngsters, Dexter King was named for the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, the place his father served as a pastor when the Montgomery bus boycott launched him to nationwide prominence within the wake of the 1955 arrest of Rosa Parks.

Dexter King was simply 7 years previous when his father was assassinated in April 1968 whereas supporting putting sanitation employees in Memphis, Tennessee. In his 2004 memoir, “Growing Up King,” Dexter King recalled his father’s slaying as the tip of a carefree childhood.

“Ever since I was seven, I’ve felt I must be formal,” he wrote, including: “Formality, seriousness, certitude — all these are difficult poses to maintain, even if you’re a person with perfect equilibrium, with all the drama life throws at you.”

As an grownup, Dexter King turned an lawyer and targeted on shepherding his father’s legacy and defending the King household’s mental property. In addition to serving as chairman of the King Center, he was additionally president of the King property.

In addition to his work with the King Center, Dexter King was recognized for the putting resemblance he bore to his father. They appeared a lot alike that the son ended up portraying his well-known father in a 2002 TV film about Parks.

Coretta Scott King died in 2006, adopted by the Kings’ oldest little one, Yolanda King, in 2007.

“Words cannot express the heart break I feel from losing another sibling,” the Rev. Bernice A. King, the youngest of the 4, stated in a press release.

His older brother, Martin Luther King III, stated: “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.”