King was staying at the Lorraine Motel. King was standing with musician Ben Branch on the balcony of his room. King's last words were telling beach to play the song "Take My Hand, Precious Lord" and do do it "pretty". After that statement, shots were fired at the balcony, which was on the second floor of the motel. King was hit in his cheek, then having the bullet travel down his spinal cord and into his shoulder. He was rushed to the hospital, but couldn't be saved. The autopsy showed that King's heart was so unhealthy, that it was called "the heart of a 60 year old". This was probably due to years of stress working in the civil right movements. Riots broke out in US cities around the country. Robert Kennedy gave a speech on King's death during his presidential campaign and edged people to continue living his message of non-violence. The public was heart broken over the death of an icon.

Two months after King's death, escaped convict James Earl Ray was captured at London Heathrow Airport while trying to leave the United Kingdom on a false Canadian passport in the name of Ramon George Sneyd on his way to white-ruled Rhodesia. Ray was quickly extradited to Tennessee and charged with King's murder. He confessed to the assassination on March 10, 1969, though he recanted this confession three days later. On the advice of his attorney Percy Foreman, Ray pled guilty to avoid a trial conviction and thus the possibility of receiving the death penalty. He was sentenced to a 99-year prison term. Ray later claimed a man he met in Montreal, Quebec, with the name Raoul was involved and that the assassination was the result of a conspiracy. He spent the remainder of his life attempting, unsuccessfully, to withdraw his guilty plea and secure the trial he never had

Loss of a Hero

MLK lays motionless on the balcony floor after being shot

James Earl Ray