ATLANTA (AP) — Yolanda Denise King, daughter and eldest child of civil rights leader the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., has died, said Steve Klein, a spokesman for the King Center.
King died late Tuesday in Santa Monica, Calif., at age 51.
Klein said the family did not know the cause of death but that relatives think it might have been a heart problem.
Born in 1955 in Montgomery, Ala., King was just an infant when her home was bombed during the turbulent civil rights era.
As an actress, she appeared in numerous films and even played Rosa Parks in the 1978 miniseries "King." She also appeared in "Ghosts of Mississippi," and founded a production company called Higher Ground Productions.
She was also an author and advocate for peace and non-violence.
Her death comes more than a year after the death of her mother, Coretta Scott King.
Yolanda King is survived by her sister, the Rev. Bernice A. King; two brothers, Martin Luther King III and Dexter Scott King; and an extended family.
Arrangements were to be announced later, the family said in a statement.
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I was beyond shocked when I heard this on the news this morning. They don't seem to be too sure about how she died eventhough they're saying possible heart problems, but I'm sure more information will be given once they perform an autopsy. May she rest in peace.
