Martin Luther King Jr. was on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis with several close colleagues, including Ralph Abernathy, Jesse Jackson, and Samuel “Billy” Kyles, when he was shot on April 4, 1968.

Who was with MLK at the moment?

Witness accounts and the famous “pointing” photograph taken seconds after the shot show several people clustered around King on the balcony.

Key figures present included:

  • Ralph Abernathy – King’s close friend and top aide in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), who had just come out of Room 306 with him.
  • Rev. Jesse Jackson – Then a young SCLC staffer, later a prominent civil rights leader, who has often recalled standing on or just below the balcony when the shot was fired.
  • Rev. Samuel “Billy” Kyles – A Memphis pastor who was on the balcony with King and was helping host him for dinner that evening.
  • Andrew Young – Another key SCLC lieutenant, visible in the iconic photograph pointing toward the direction of the shot from the balcony.
  • Others nearby – Including people in the courtyard below, such as King’s driver Solomon Jones, and an 18‑year‑old student, Mary Louise Hunt, who also appear in descriptions of the scene.

In short, King was surrounded by several members of his SCLC inner circle and local supporters on the motel balcony and in the courtyard below when he was fatally shot.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.