Police authorities have confirmed that Malikah Shabazz, one of six daughters of civil rights activist Malcolm X, was found dead Monday at her Brooklyn home.
According to reports, 56-year-old Shabazz was found unresponsive in her home in Midwood.
The city’s medical examiner who responded to the scene did not believe that the death was suspicious, while police also found no reason to suspect foul play.
A NPD spokesman speaking to the press revealed that Shabazz’s daughter had called 911 and the Police responded shortly after 4:30 p.m. while emergency services were already at the scene.
Her death was reported earlier Monday by NBC New York and The medical examiner told the station she was found unresponsive and was pronounced dead.
Malikah Shabazz’s death comes just days after Muhammad Aziz and Khalil Islam were exonerated in the assasination of Malcom X. Malcom X had been murdered in 1965 and both men had been convicted of murdering the civil rights leader alongside Mujahid Abdul Halim in 1966.
Both Aziz and Islam had always maintained their innocence and their convictions were thrown out Thursday. Islam however died in 2009.
Malikah Shabazz, one of twins was born about seven months after Malcolm X was murdered. Their mother was pregnant with them when Malcolm X was fatally shot at the Audubon Ballroom in New York City, where hundreds had gathered to hear him speak, on Feb. 21, 1965.
Shabazz had several run-ins with the law in the decade that preceded her death. She had pleaded guilty to stealing the identity of an elderly woman in 2011 and was arrested alongside her daughter on theft and animal abuse charges in 2017.
Shabazz was one of six daughters Malcolm X fathered with his wife Betty Shabazz. Her surviving sisters are Malaak Shabazz, Qubilah Shabazz, Ilyasah Shabazz, Attallah Shabazz and Gamilah Lumumba Shabazz.
Bernice King, Martin Luther King’s daugher tweeted her condolences, saying she was deeply saddened. “My heart goes out to her family, the descendants of Dr. Betty Shabazz and Malcolm X,” she wrote in part.
