Dexter Scott King, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s son, died of cancer at the age of 62

 Dexter Scott King, the younger son of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, died on Monday after a battle with prostate cancer.

The King Centre in Atlanta, chaired by Dexter King, announced that the 62-year-old son of the civil rights legend died at his residence in Malibu, California. His wife, Leah Weber King, said in a statement that he died "peacefully in his sleep."

Dexter King, the third of the Kings' four children, was named after the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, where his father served as pastor when the Montgomery bus boycott propelled him to national fame following Rosa Parks' incarceration in 1955.

Dexter King was seven years old when his father was slain in Memphis, Tennessee, while supporting striking sanitation workers in April 1968. In his 2004 memoir, "Growing Up King," Dexter King described his father's murder as the end of a happy childhood.

"Ever since I was seven, I've felt I must be formal," he said. He went on to write: "Formality, seriousness, certitude — all these are difficult poses to maintain, even if you're a person with perfect equilibrium, with all the drama life throws at you."

As an adult, Dexter King became an attorney, where he concentrated on defending his father's legacy and the King family's intellectual property. In addition to being chairman of the King Centre, he was president of the King Estate.

In addition to his work at the King Centre, Dexter King was noted for his strong likeness to his father. They looked so similar that the kid ended up playing his famous father in a 2002 television film about Parks.

Coretta Scott King died in 2006, followed by their oldest child, Yolanda King, in 2007.

"Words cannot express the heartbreak I feel from losing another sibling," the youngest of the four, Rev. Bernice A. King, said in a statement.

His older brother, Martin Luther King III, stated, "The unexpected shock is catastrophic. It's difficult to find the correct words at this moment. We would appreciate your prayers at this time for the entire King family."