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Edward Boykin

Case from Atlanta, GA dated Jun 30, 1974

Victim Details

Edward Boykin

Male

Black / African American

Atlanta

GA

1974-06-30

69

Edward

Boykin

07/18/2026

Case Description

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On a Sunday morning in Atlanta, Georgia, the familiar hymns at Ebenezer Baptist Church were tragically silenced by gunfire. It was June 30, 1974, and Deacon Edward Boykin, a 69-year-old Black man, was attending the service as he had for thirty-nine years. That day, a 23-year-old man from Ohio named Marcus Wayne Chenault, Jr. rose from the pews, brandishing two revolvers.

As Alberta Williams King, the mother of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., played 'The Lord's Prayer' on the organ, Chenault b ...
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Links to Additional Sources (9)

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  • the Guardian: Martin Luther King's mother slain in church: From the archive, 1 July 1974
  • Mother of Dr. King Is Killed in Church; Atlanta Deacon Slain (Published 1974)
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    Forum Posts (3)

    I've been reading more about Edward Boykin's murder and something that really struck me is the impac... ...Read More
    07/01/2024
    Hello everyone,
    I've been thinking a lot about Jimmie Mitchell, the other person injured in the t... ...Read More
    09/14/2023
    I was thinking today about how deeply ingrained Ebenezer Baptist Church was in the community back in... ...Read More
    02/15/2023
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