Dexter Scott King, the younger son of Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, has died, his brother said. He was 62.
“I am deeply saddened to share that my brother, Dexter Scott King, has passed away,” Martin Luther King III said in a statement Monday. “The sudden shock is devastating. It is hard to have the right words at a moment like this.”
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The Associated Press reports he had been fighting prostate cancer.
His death was mourned by Rev. Al Sharpton, founder and president of the National Action Network.
“I was heartbroken to hear that Dexter King left us this morning, but I was comforted by the knowledge he is reunited with his parents and sister,” Sharpton said. “Dexter was only seven when his hero, his role model, and, most importantly, his father was taken from us. He turned that pain into activism, however, and dedicated his life to advancing the dream Martin and Coretta Scott King had for their children, their grandchildren, and all the generations to come after.”
Dexter King was the third of the Kings’ four children. He served as chairman of the King Center.
His mother, Coretta Scott King, died in 2006, followed by the Kings’ oldest child, Yolanda King, in 2007.
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