Farris has endured one brother being murdered in 1968 , the drowning of another brother , A. D. , in 1969 , and the murder of her mother in 1974 . Farris has not returned to Memphis , Tennessee , since traveling there after her brother 's assassination to retrieve his body . In recent years , she has attended the funerals of sister-in-law , Coretta Scott King ( died January 30 , 2006 ) and niece Yolanda King ( died May 15 , 2007 ) . In an interview with CNN , she said she would not attend an April 2008 event marking the 40th anniversary of her brother 's assassination , because the painful memories of her last visit to Memphis still haunt her . Her husband , Issac Newton Farris Sr. , died on December 30 , 2017 , at the age of 83
one brother being murdered in 1968
Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
Christine King Farris