Dexter Scott, the third son of the reverend and civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr., died this Monday at the age of 62 of prostate cancer. The King Center, of which he was president, announced the news in a statement.
Dexter King’s death occurred at his residence in California, United States, while he was sleeping with his wife, Leah Weber King.
In a press release provided through the non-governmental organization that safeguards Luther King’s legacy, Leah Weber said that her husband “transitioned peacefully while sleeping at home with me in Malibu” and added that “he gave everything and fought against this terrible disease until the end. “Like all the challenges in his life, she faced this obstacle with courage and strength.”
His brother, Martin Luther King III, added: “I am deeply saddened to share that my brother, Dexter Scott King, has passed away. This the sudden shock is devastating. It’s difficult to find the right words in a moment like this. Please keep the entire King family in your prayers, and especially Dexter’s wife, Leah Weber.”
The deceased was third of the reverend’s four children and activist Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King.
Dexter King born in 1961 in Atlanta and he barely had 7 years old when his father was murdered in 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee. His parents named him “Dexter” after the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Alabama, where Martin Luther King was reverend before moving to Atlanta.
The civil rights icon’s third son was the family member charged with carrying on his father’s pacifist legacy and protecting his work. At the time of his death, Dexter was president of the board of directors of the King Center (of which his sister, Bernice, is the CEO).
Dexter was interested too performing arts and had ventured in cinemawho plays her father in the film “The Rosa Parks Story” due to their great physical resemblance.
The dialogue with his father’s killer
In 1997, Dexter had meeting for the first time James Earl Ray, the self-confessed murderer of Martin Luther King. During the meeting, the condemned man insisted on his innocence and assured: “I did not kill his father.” In an abrupt about-face, the civil rights leader’s heirs said they believe him and will seek justice.
The moment Martin Luther King and his wife Coretta Scott received the news of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.The meeting had taken place on Ray’s deathbed, in Nashville. The convict was 69 years old and was undergoing a purge sentence of 99 and suffered from irreversible liver disease.
Source: Clarin
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