Trial proceedings are slated to get underway Monday for a 31-year-old man accused of pimping out a young Riverside woman throughout Southern California, as well as other states, and beating her on numerous occasions, including choking her into unconsciousness.
Lloyd Kieair Turner of Riverside was arrested in 2022 following a Riverside County Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force investigation.
Turner is charged with pimping, human trafficking, procuring a person for the purpose commercial sex acts, making criminal threats, possession of an assault weapon and domestic violence resulting in great bodily injury.
During a status hearing Thursday at the Riverside Hall of Justice, Turner’s attorney and prosecutors announced they were prepared to move forward with a jury trial, prompting Superior Court Judge Joshlyn Pulliam to schedule pretrial motions for Monday at the downtown courthouse.
Turner is being held on $1 million bail at the Robert Presley Jail.
According to a District Attorney’s Office brief filed in opposition to a motion for decreased bail, Turner began dating the victim, identified only as “W.T.,” in the summer of 2021, and initially the relationship was stable.
However, within a month, Turner became “controlling and abusive,” the brief alleged, further stating that in August 2021, he drove the victim to Figueroa and 68th streets in downtown Los Angeles, where he told her to behave like a prostitute to win men’s confidence and then steal their money.
On the first night, the woman only swiped $100, and “Turner got upset that it was such a low amount,” telling the victim “she needed to have sex with the men so that they would pay her more,” court papers stated.
“He told her not come back until she had $1,000,” the brief said. “This went on for months, with the defendant insisting the money was for his trucking company, which never came to fruition.”
Prosecutors allege the defendant drove the victim to locations throughout Palm Springs, Los Angeles and Long Beach, where he put her to work providing commercial sexual services, using online classified advertisements and social media applications to arrange encounters.
“The defendant would abuse her if she talked back, or did not bring back enough money,” according to the brief.
At a Los Angeles car wash, Turner allegedly struck the victim in the back of the head with his fist “repeatedly” for not bringing in sufficient cash, according to the District Attorney’s Office. Another time, he allegedly pushed her into a broken road sign, leaving a long gash on one of her legs that required stitches, prosecutors said.
In August 2021, Turner allegedly sexually abused the victim’s younger sister at her apartment, infuriating W.T., who yelled at him, according to the prosecution.
“He strangled her, causing her to pass out,” the brief said. “The defendant also told her he would `kill you bitches’ (if they informed on him).”
In December 2021, Turner allegedly headed to Seattle with W.T. and compelled to engage in prostitution in the Emerald City for a week. Prosecutors said that was when the woman decided to end their ties, and she told Turner they were finished. But the defendant didn’t let go easily, allegedly breaking into her apartment one night as she slept and attacking her, culminating in a fight in which the woman was thrown into a wall, leaving blood smears, according to court documents.
Afterward, the victim contacted the Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force via a national hotline, leading to an investigation and Turner’s arrest in June 2022. A search of his belongings turned up a stolen AK-47 rifle, according to investigators.
The defendant has no documented prior felony convictions, though he does have a misdemeanor conviction for public intoxication.