Ex-Broker Charged With Murdering BofA Exec Wins Right to See Police Files

A Pitchess motion was granted on Wednesday to ex-broker Anthony Duwayne Turner, the former colleague and ex-boyfriend of slain Bank of America executive Michelle Avan, Ricardo Santiago, a spokesman for Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón, told ThinkAdvisor.

A Pitchess motion is a request made by the defendant in a California criminal case to be able to inspect a law enforcement officer’s personnel file for any evidence of police misconduct.

Defense attorneys usually make a Pitchess motion during the pretrial process when it is suspected that police may have acted improperly by filing an inaccurate police report or some other manner. When granted, a judge typically releases any information he or she believes is relevant about the police officer in question to the defendant.

The next court date is Aug. 18, to select the date for a preliminary hearing, Santiago said.

That next hearing will be held at 8:30 a.m. in Room 122 of Los Angeles Superior Court in Van Nuys, according to the court’s website.

Michelle Avan’s Killing

Avan was a managing director at Merrill Lynch for 22 years before being promoted in June to head of BofA’s global women’s and underrepresented talent strategy, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Turner, of Westchester, California, was arrested Aug. 5 and released Aug. 13 after posting $2 million in bail, the Los Angeles Police Department and a spokesperson for Gascón told ThinkAdvisor last year.

Turner was charged with felony murder and first-degree residential burglary in his former girlfriend’s death, according to Gascón’s spokesperson.

The cause of Avan’s death was initially unknown, but she “appeared to have suffered trauma to her face,” police said at the time.

“Family members became concerned when they could not contact Avan,” police said. Avan’s son discovered her body, and a member of her family contacted police and Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics.

West Valley Patrol officers arrived at Avan’s home and found her unresponsive, police said, and paramedics pronounced her dead.

Turner allegedly entered Avan’s home on Aug. 3, killed her and left the next day, the district attorney said.

Turner had been a registered broker with Merrill since 2004, and his registration with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority shifted to BofA Securities in 2019, where he was still working as a broker when he was arrested, according to his report on FINRA’s BrokerCheck. He is no longer registered as a broker, according BrokerCheck.

Avan had considered seeking a restraining order against Turner, with whom she had been in a romantic relationship, NBC4′s I-Team reported, citing law enforcement sources. Her family requested that Gascón file a special circumstances murder charge against Turner in addition to the charges filed by the district attorney.

(Pictured: Anthony Duwayne Turner; Image: Los Angeles Sentinel/File Photo)