In 1968 , King was planning a national occupation of Washington , D.C. , to be called the Poor People 's Campaign , when he was assassinated on April 4 in Memphis , Tennessee . His death was followed by riots in many U.S. cities . Allegations that James Earl Ray , the man convicted of killing King , had been framed or acted in concert with government agents persisted for decades after the shooting . Sentenced to 99 years in prison for King 's murder , effectively a life sentence as Ray was 41 at the time of conviction , Ray served 29 years of his sentence and died from hepatitis in 1998 while in prison
assassinated
Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr.