Nearly four years after the brutal murder of Michelle Annette Avan, a respected Bank of America senior vice president, her former boyfriend, Anthony Duwayne Turner, has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Turner, 57, was convicted in August of first-degree murder, burglary, and forcible rape in connection with Avan’s 2021 death inside her Reseda home. The case — which shocked Los Angeles’ corporate and Black professional communities — drew national attention for its mix of ambition, betrayal, and violence behind closed doors.
Avan, 48, was found dead by her son in her bedroom on August 5, 2021. Prosecutors said Turner, also a former banking executive, used a code she had given him to enter her home, beat and strangled her, and then left without calling for help. DNA evidence linked him to the crime, contradicting his claim that the injuries were “self-inflicted.”
During Friday’s sentencing, family members filled the courtroom—some in tears, others resolute. Her daughter, Nyah, described her mother as “a woman of poise, wisdom and grace” who mentored countless women. Addressing Turner directly, she said, “The legacy you are leaving behind is one of disgrace.” Turner’s ex-wife, Anjanette Jones, called him “a danger to women and society.”
Judge Larry Paul Fidler imposed the maximum sentence, noting the cruelty of the crime and the devastation it caused.