Cyntoia Brown Granted Clemency After 15 Years In Prison

Cyntoia Brown, a woman who now is 30 years old, was convicted of murder and sentenced to 51 years to life at the young age of 16. Brown was forced into prostitution and murdered a man who paid to have sex with her in fear of her life, according to CNN.

March 1, 2011 a documentary film about Cyntoia Brown, was aired on PBS, Me Facing Life: Cyntoia's Story.  A young Cyntoia Brown claims she had been forced into prostitution at an early age. Her mother, Georgina Mitchell, continued using alcohol when she was pregnant resulting in fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, by the time Cyntoia was eight months old Mitchell began using crack cocaine. By 2004 she became a runaway and forced into prostitution, which investigators overlooked due to a lack of physical evidence, reported from USA Today. Brown claims she killed Allen in self-defense, she feared she was likely to be murdered by him. In court, prosecutors argued the physical evidence present at the crime scene suggested Allen was asleep at the time of the murder. Cyntoia Brown was sentenced to 51 years in Tennessee Prison For Women on first-degree murder.

Several celebrities, including rapper T.I, NBA star Lebron James, Rihanna, and Kim K.West, promoted her retrial and release, prompting many on social media to sign petitions demanding she be set free. Sources from CNN say, After renewed interest in her case in 2018, the governor of Tennessee commuted her original 51-years-to-life sentence to 15 years, scheduling her for release on August 7, 2019.