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Industry Spotlight > Wirehouse Firms

New Court Date Set for Suspect in Merrill Exec’s Murder

By Jeff Berman

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What You Need to Know

  • The next court date is Jan. 20 to set a date for a preliminary hearing, according to a spokesman for the L.A. County district attorney.
  • Anthony Duwayne Turner was arrested Aug. 5 and charged with felony murder and first-degree residential burglary in his former girlfriend’s death.
  • He was released on bail Aug. 13.

Another court date has been set for Anthony Duwayne Turner, the former colleague and ex-boyfriend of slain Bank of America executive Michelle Avan.

“The next court date is Jan. 20 to set a date for a preliminary hearing,” Ricardo Santiago, a spokesman for Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón, told ThinkAdvisor on Wednesday.

The hearing will be at 8:30 a.m. at Los Angeles Superior Court in Van Nuys, California, according to the court’s website.

The new date was set during a preliminary hearing setting conference at the court on Wednesday.

Santiago didn’t say if Anthony Duwayne Turner, the BofA broker who recently pleaded not guilty to murdering the head of BofA’s global women’s and underrepresented talent strategy, appeared at the hearing on Wednesday.

Avan served as a managing director at Merrill 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, 52, 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 had told ThinkAdvisor.

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 unknown, but she “appeared to have suffered trauma to her face,” according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

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

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

On Aug. 3, Turner allegedly entered Avan’s home, and he killed her before leaving Aug. 4, the district attorney said.

Turner had been with Merrill since 2004, and his registration with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority shifted to BofA Securities in 2019, according to his report on FINRA’s 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.

Avan’s 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)

Jeff Berman

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