Story posted September 8, 2010
Rodney King is getting married again, according to RadarOnline.com.
King reportedly popped the question to the woman who was juror No. 5 on the panel that awarded King $3.8 million in his civil suit against the city of Los Angeles.
King became an accidental icon when he was beaten by several white police officers in 1991.
King then became the central figure in the trial that led to the 1992 L.A. riots where 53 people were killed. Seven-thousand fires burned in the turmoil, which followed the acquittal of the officers accused of beating King in a traffic stop.
On the third day of the riots, King pleaded for the violence to end.
"I just want to say, you know, can't we all just get along?" said King to the people of L.A. in 1992. "I’m neutral. I love every, I love people of color. I’m not like what they’re making me out to be. We’ve got to quit."
Local
Get Los Angeles's latest local news on crime, entertainment, weather, schools, COVID, cost of living and more. Here's your go-to source for today's LA news.
Now nearly 20 years later, King can look at that night in 1991 as the turning point in his life. It brought him fame, however unwanted it was, a multi-million dollar judgment, and now it has brought him a wife.
King and Cynthia Kelly said they first felt a romantic spark when they met in a Newport Beach pizzeria the day after that 1994 jury award, The New York Daily News reported.
Kelly told RadarOnline.com that the other jurors didn't want to give King any money, and she pushed for millions.
King now lives in a modest home in Rialto, and calls Kelley a Godsend, and a blessing in his life.
Rodney King told NBCLA through a friend that he isn’t planning to go on camera or speak publicly about his engagement until he can work out some details, and set a date.
King says that will likely take a month or more.
