A 52-year-old Westchester man charged with murdering a prominent L.A. banking executive appeared in court Monday.
Anthony Duwayne Turner pleaded not guilty in Van Nuys court to one count each of murder and residential burglary in the first degree. The charges arose out of the killing of 48-year-old mother and grandmother Michelle Annette Avan, who investigators said was Turner's ex-girlfriend.
Investigators theorized that Turner entered Avan’s home on Aug. 3, where he fatally beat her and left the home the following day. Avan’s body was reportedly discovered by her son on the morning of Aug. 5.
Avan was a senior vice president with Bank of America in Los Angeles, working to expand the bank’s diversity recruitment initiatives. Turner also worked as an executive at the bank.
Avan was well known in the L.A. banking industry and the African-American community. She was profiled by Essence magazine in 2017, in which she was lauded for blazing a trail for Black female leadership in finance.
“My mom was such a beautiful person, just so loving,” Avan’s son, Trevor Avan, said at a news conference outside the courthouse on Monday.
“If there was anything that you needed from her, she would be there.”