Martin Luther King Jr.'s sister-in-law 'violently punched in the face'

Friday, the sister-in-law of civil rights legend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was punched in the face outside of her retirement home in an alleged carjacking.

Friday, the sister-in-law of civil rights legend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was punched in the face outside of her retirement home in an alleged carjacking.

Witnesses say that when a thief attempted to steal the car of Naomi King, 83, outside her Atlanta retirement community Big Bethel Village, she refused to comply and was violently assaulted.

“He demanded her car and told her he was going to bust her in her mouth,” said friend Lena Reid Morrow.

“Before was looking to see where her purse was in the car. But he could not see that, so he turned and hit her again and by this time she was screaming,” Morrow told WSBTV.

King, who is known by friends as the “butterfly queen,” was a civil rights leader much like her brother-in-law and lived through her own home being bombed during the height of the movement. Thanks to her fighting spirit, she has survived this attack as well, yet her current condition has not been released.

Another resident at the retirement home was similarly attacked earlier that same day, and now authorities are in search of the man who ran into the woods and towards a trail that leads to three different communities.

In the wake of King’s attack, other elders in the community are scared to leave their homes.

“I like to get my exercise. I should be able to walk through here without getting accosted,” said resident Marie White.

“We’re like sitting ducks,” added Morrow.

The community is now calling for heightened security in the area to ensure nothing like this happens again.

Check out local coverage above.

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