The Rev. Sylvester Laudermill, longtime pastor at St. Peters AME Church in St. Louis and community activist, died last Thursday (Oct. 9, 2008) in Los Angeles, according to the AME Church.
He was 50.
Church leaders did not list a cause of death.
Laudermill chaired Congregations Allied for Community Improvement, Clergy and Citizens United for Safety and Justice, and Metropolitan Congregations United during his service in St. Louis.
He also was vice president of the St. Louis Clergy Coalition and was instrumental in negotiations for St. Louis Public Schools to establish a vocational education high school (Clyde C. Miller Academy) in the city.
He was transferred to Ward AME Church in Los Angeles, but was later defrocked by the church following allegations that he sexually abused minors in both St. Louis and Los Angeles. No criminal charges were filed. He would then serve at an AME Church in San Diego after being reinstated by the AME Church.
A civil trial against him was set to begin this month. A similar lawsuit in St. Louis was settled.