Civil rights activist Dexter King, the third child of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Mrs. Coretta Scott King, has passed away at the age of 62 after a battle with prostate cancer, confirmed The King Center in a statement. The King Center, where Dexter served as chairman, stated that he passed away peacefully at his home in Malibu, California.

“ I am deeply saddened to share that my brother, Dexter Scott King, has passed away,” Martin Luther King III, his brother, said in a statement on Monday. This news has been received with much shock and profound sadness by the civil rights community as well as those who were personally close to him.

Dexter King held a strong connection to the heart of the civil rights movement. His name was influenced by the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, significant for its role as a hub for the Montgomery bus boycott and other strategic civil rights movements led by his father. His passing represents a significant loss for The King Center in Atlanta, and for all those inspired by his family’s enduring message of freedom and equality.