Facts: - title: martin luther king , jr. - timezone: central time - caption: martin luther king , jr. - location: lorraine motel memphis , tennessee - weapons: remington 760 gamemaster .30 -06 - time: 6:01 p.m. - coordinates: 35.1345 :50000 dms inline , title n 90.0576 w region : us-tn_type : event_scale - image: martin luther king jr nywts.jpg - date: 1968 04 04 - target: martin luther king , jr. . Based on these bullet points, write a short biography describing the life of assassination of martin luther king , jr. . .
A:
martin luther king , jr. was an american clergyman and civil rights leader who was fatally shot at the lorraine motel in memphis , tennessee , on thursday , april 4 , 1968 , at the age of 39 .king was rushed to st. joseph 's hospital , where he was pronounced dead at 7:05 p.m. that evening .he was a prominent leader of the african-american civil rights movement and nobel peace prize laureate who was known for his use of nonviolence and civil disobedience .james earl ray , a fugitive from the missouri state penitentiary , was arrested on june 8 , 1968 , in london at heathrow airport , extradited to the united states , and charged with the crime .on march 10 , 1969 , ray entered a plea of guilty and was sentenced to 99 years in the tennessee state penitentiary .ray later made many attempts to withdraw his guilty plea and be tried by a jury , but was unsuccessful ; he died in prison on april 23 , 1998 , at the age of 70 .the king family and others believe that the assassination was carried out by a conspiracy involving the u.s. government , as alleged by loyd jowers in 1993 , and that ray was a scapegoat .in 1999 the king family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against jowers for the sum of $ 100 .during the trial both the family and jowers presented evidence alleging a government conspiracy .the government agencies accused could not defend themselves or respond because they were not named as defendants .based on the evidence , the jury concluded that jowers and '' others were part of a conspiracy to kill king . ''