Cyntoia Brown, who was handed a life sentence as a teenager for killing a man she said had hired her for sex, has been released from a Tennessee prison.
Brown, now 31, has spent 15 years of her life behind bars for the murder.
She walked free on Wednesday and will remain on parole, according to the Tennessee Department of Corrections.
“I look forward to using my experiences to help other women and girls suffering abuse and exploitation,” Brown said in a statement after her release.
“I thank Governor and First Lady Haslam for their vote of confidence in me and, with the Lord’s help, I will make them, as well as the rest of my supporters, proud.”
Brown’s case drew national attention following documentaries and support from high-profile celebrities, who pointed to the case as an example of racial inequality in the U.S. criminal justice system and a reason why the system should be reformed.
Brown was eventually granted clemency. Former Tennessee governor Bill Haslam, citing Brown’s transformation while behind bars, commuted her sentence last year.
Here’s a look at the case.
She never denied pulling the trigger
In 2004, when Brown was 16 years old, she shot and killed 43-year-old real estate agent Johnny Mitchell Allen.
Brown, at the time, was a runaway. She was living with her 24-year-old boyfriend, who she claimed raped her and forced her into prostitution.
Allen had allegedly paid Brown for sex when she shot him.
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During her testimony, Brown said Allen brought her to his home and showed off a gun cabinet. She said she resisted him. When she saw him reach under the bed, believing he was grabbing a gun, Brown said she took a gun from her purse and shot him in self-defence, according to court records.
Allen’s father died of a heart attack shortly after his death. The family blamed Brown for causing both deaths and said they did not believe Allen propositioned Brown but, rather, that he had recognized her rough situation and was trying to help her.
Prosecutors argued Brown killed Allen to rob him.
Brown was tried as an adult and convicted of first-degree murder, among other charges, in 2006. She was sentenced to life in prison.
Under state law at the time, Brown would not be eligible for parole for at least 51 years.
She turned her life around in prison
Though Brown had previous run-ins with the law prior to her life sentence, she worked to improve her life while behind bars.
Brown earned an associate degree from Lipscomb University in 2015 and later a bachelor’s degree in the Tennessee Prison for Women.
Kate Watkins, Brown’s college teacher, told the Tennessean that Brown later served as a mentor and advocate for women in prison. She’s also collaborated with Tennessee’s juvenile justice system to help counsel at-risk youth.
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“I learned that my life was — and is — not over,” Brown said in the 2011 documentary Me Facing Life: Cyntoia’s Story, which garnered her legal supporters.
“I can create opportunities where I can actually help people.”
These efforts, in part, motivated then-governor Haslam’s decision to grant her clemency.
She was supported by celebrities
Brown’s case moved its way into the headlines on a few occasions thanks to some big names.
On Twitter, Kim Kardashian West was first to call for her release and criticized the sentence.
“The system has failed,” Kardashian West wrote. “It’s heartbreaking to see a young girl sex-trafficked then, when she has the courage to fight back, is jailed for life!”
Kardashian West, who has come to the aid of other prisoners in the past, offered her attorneys to Brown to help her case.
Other celebrities, such as Amy Schumer, Rihanna and Drake, picked up on the story and also posted their criticism on social media.
It was Schumer and Alyssa Milano who tweeted to Haslam in December 2018 and called for him to grant her clemency, saying: “She deserves our empathy and your mercy.”
Years after her sentencing, Brown found herself the subject of a viral hashtag: #FreeCyntoiaBrown.
She was granted clemency in a rare move
Brown’s case shed light on Tennessee’s sentencing laws for juveniles convicted of murder.
When Brown was convicted in 2005, Tennessee had the longest minimum sentence for juveniles convicted of murder in all of the U.S.
That was changed in 2012 after a Supreme Court ruling, which found life-without-parole sentences for juveniles to be unconstitutional.
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The public outcry turned into petitions asking for her freedom.
Haslam later granted Brown a full commutation to parole. He said that based on her rehabilitation and age at the time of the crime, she deserved mercy.
In a statement following his decision, Haslam slammed the “harsh” sentence.
“Cyntoia Brown committed, by her own admission, a horrific crime at the age of 16,” Haslam said in a statement.
“Yet, imposing a life sentence on a juvenile that would require her to serve at least 51 years before even being eligible for parole consideration is too harsh, especially in light of the extraordinary steps Ms. Brown has taken to rebuild her life.”
She’s free, but not completely
Brown may have walked free Wednesday but she does not have full freedom.
She will remain on parole for 10 years and must find and keep a job as well as participate in community service and counselling, the Tennessean reported.
“Transformation should be accompanied by home,” Haslam’s January statement read.
In a statement of her own, Brown said she hopes to continue to help young girls avoid “ending up where I have been.”
— With files from the Associated Press
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