Martin Luther King Jr’s youngest son Dexter Scott King dead at 62 after a battle with prostate cancer

Dexter Scott King, the youngest son of Martin Luther King Jr. and Corretta King, has died after a battle with prostate cancer, according to statements from his family.

He was married to Leah Weber King since 2013.

“He transitioned peacefully in his sleep at home with me in Malibu,” Weber King said in a statement from the King Center.

“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.”

“I am deeply saddened to share that my brother, Dexter Scott King, has passed away,” Dexter’s older brother Martin Luther King III said in a statement.

“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.”

Civil tights activist Rev. Al Sharpton said he 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.”

Dexter’s mother, Coretta Scott King, died in 2006, while his sister Yolanda Denise King died in 2007.

After graduating from Morehouse College, Dexter worked as chairman of The King Center for Nonviolent Social Change, a non-profit started by Coretta Scott King in the wake of her husband’s assassination.

He was just seven years old when his father was shot and killed on the balcony of a hotel in Memphis, Tennessee.

He told CNN he had been watching TV with his older brother when he learned of his father’s death through a breaking newsflash that appeared on the screen.

“It was a very chaotic and traumatic period,” he said.

He also explained to the outlet that bearing his father’s name was both a blessing and a curse.

“People would say, ‘I want you to be just like your father,’ or ‘You should be a minister,’” he said.

The Mayor of Atlanta, Andre Dickens, said he stood with his city “and so many worldwide in grieving the loss of Dexter Scott King”.

“His profound and unwavering love for his family positioned him as a guardian of his father and mother’s legacies,” he said.

“However, above all, he was a devoted family man.”