Shabazz, Malikah

Malikah Shabazz (1965-2021, age 56). One of six daughters of Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz, Malikah and her twin sister Malaak. Betty was pregnant with these twins when Malcolm X was assassinated in 1965. Malikah was found found unconscious and unresponsive by her daughter in her Brooklyn home. She was said to have been ill and the police say her death appeared to be from natural causes. Islam does not permit autopsies, however, a police spokesperson said.

NBC had reported in 1997 that Malikah has feuded with her sisters. “One of the daughters, Malikah Shabazz, accuses her two sisters, Ilyasah and Malaak Shabazz, and their former lawyer…’of spending estate money on themselves while permitting property and other estate assets to languish and a tax bill to skyrocket.”

In 2017, Malikah Shabazz and her daughter, Bettih Shabazz, were arrested in Maryland on animal cruelty charges after authorities said several injured dogs were found inside a stolen U-Haul truck they were inexplicably driving.

Malikah Shabazz’s death came only days after two of the three men who had been convicted of killing Malcolm X were exonerated in Manhattan. A judge dismissed the convictions of Muhammad Aziz and the late Khalil Islam after prosecutors and the men’s lawyers said a renewed investigation found new evidence that undermined the case against them.

Bernice King, a daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., said on Twitter, “I’m deeply saddened by the death of #MalikahShabazz. My heart goes out to her family, the descendants of Dr. Betty Shabazz and Malcolm X.”