Martin Luther King’s Son, Dexter Scott King, 62, Dies After Battling Cancer

Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott King’s youngest son, Dexter Scott King, 62, died after battling a “valiant battle with prostate cancer,” the King Center announced Monday, Jan. 22. 

Dexter’s wife of 11 years, Leah Weber King, said in a 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 in the letter. “As with all the challenges in his life, he faced this hurdle with bravery and might.”

Remembering Dexter Scott King

Dexter Scott King was born in Atlanta in 1961. His father served as the first pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, where he was named after the church.

When his father was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1968, he was just seven years old. 

Just like his father, Dexter attended Morehouse College in Atlanta. He moved to California to pursue an acting career. While pursuing his dream, he was devoted to legally protecting his father’s legacy and intellectual property surrounding the King family’s work. 

Dexter served as chairman of the King Center.