ATLANTA - Coretta Scott King, the 78-year-old widow of civil rights leader Rev. Martin Luther King, died on Tuesday, former Atlanta mayor Andrew Jackson Young Jr. told NBC News.

King had been recovering at home since suffering a stroke and heart attack in August.

She was last seen in public when she made a surprise appearance at a fundraiser on what would have been her husband's 77th birthday earlier this month.

ATLANTA - Coretta Scott King, the 78-year-old widow of civil rights leader Rev. Martin Luther King, died on Tuesday, former Atlanta mayor Andrew Jackson Young Jr. told NBC News.

King had been recovering at home since suffering a stroke and heart attack in August.

She was last seen in public when she made a surprise appearance at a fundraiser on what would have been her husband's 77th birthday earlier this month.