New Trial Date Set for Former BofA Banker Charged With Merrill Exec's Murder
Anthony Duwayne Turner's jury trial in the death of Michelle Avan should begin Sept. 16 in Los Angeles County.
A jury trial for former banker Anthony Duwayne Turner, who is charged with murdering his ex-girlfriend and colleague, Bank of America-Merrill executive Michelle Avan, in 2021 is set to start Sept. 16.
A trial readiness conference is scheduled for Aug. 29 in California Superior Court, Los Angeles County, Van Nuys West Dept. G, the same location as the trial, court records show.
The judge held a pretrial conference Thursday; the session had been scheduled to consider motions on the evidence to be presented at trial.
While the court’s website previously noted a Sept. 9 start date for the trial, the updated schedule doesn’t represent a delay, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office told ThinkAdvisor by email Monday.
The court had planned to handle motions at the earlier September date but now expects to do that sooner, so the Sept. 9 court appearance was unnecessary, the spokesperson said.
Turner has pleaded not guilty to murder, forcible rape and first-degree residential burglary in Avan’s Aug. 3, 2021, slaying, the DA’s office told ThinkAdvisor earlier this year.
He was arrested two days after Avan was killed, according to court records, and shortly thereafter released on $2 million bail.
In June, the judge denied prosecutors’ request for no bail while imposing stringent conditions on Turner’s bond release — that he be placed on electronic monitoring and under curfew, stay 100 yards away from airport, railroad and bus terminals, have no female visitors and stay in Los Angeles County.
At last week’s pretrial conference, the judge approved giving Turner an extra hour before his curfew starts each evening, so it runs from 6:00p.m. to 6:00 a.m., the DA’s spokesperson said.
Turner was registered with Merrill starting in 2004 and later with BofA Securities (2019-2022), according to Financial Industry Regulatory Authority BrokerCheck; he worked as a business banker for BofA from 2016 to 2022.
Avan had been promoted to Bank of America senior vice president, Head of Global Women’s and Under-represented Talent Strategy Global Human Resources, shortly before she was killed, after nearly 23 years as a Merrill Lynch managing director, her LinkedIn profile indicates.
Credit: Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office