Civil rights symbol Rodney King dead at 47
Jun 17, 2012, 7:52 AM | Updated: 9:41 pm
This July 16, 1992 file photo shows Rodney King being escorted from jail in Santa Ana, Calif. after he was arrested for investigation of drunken driving. King, whose videotaped beating by police in 1991 led to LA race riots, has died at 47. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian, file)
(AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian, file)
Rodney King was found dead in his home Sunday morning at age 47. His fiancee, Cynthia Kelly, reported the death after finding King in the home’s swimming pool.
The announcement was made official to the press early on June 17 by his representative, Suzanne Wickman.
Rodney King is best known as the high profile police brutality victim who was beaten at a DUI stop in 1991 in Los Angeles.
Los Angeles Police Department officers Theodore Briseno, Laurence Powell, Timothy Wind and Stacey Koon were tried for assault with a deadly weapon. They were acquitted after trial in a Simi Valley court, causing major riots around the greater Los Angeles area.
In 1993, the same four police officers that were exonerated in the 1991 beating were tried for federal civil rights violations. Officers Koon and Powell were convicted and sentenced to 30 months in prison, while Briseno and Wind were again acquitted.
Unconfirmed reports say that fiancee Cynthia Kelly called 911 at 5:25 a.m. to report that King was unresponsive, laying face down in their swimming pool.
Officers from the Rialto Police Department responded, pulled King out of the pool, and tried to resuscitate him but were not able to revive him.
A definitive cause of death has not yet been announced.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
