'Free Cyntoia Brown': Rihanna and Cara Delevingne call for release of teenager jailed for murdering man who solicited her for sex

Free Cyntoia Brown Rihanna Cara Delevingne Kim Kardashian
Rihanna has called for Cyntoia Brown (right) to be released  Credit: Getty

The case of a US woman serving life in jail for murdering a man who solicited her for sex when she was a teenager has been thrust to prominence after a string of celebrities have called for her release, including Rihanna, Cara Delevingne and Kim Kardashian.

Cyntoia Brown was 16 when she shot dead Johnny Mitchell Allen, an estate agent who had picked her up for sex off the streets of Nashville, Tennessee, in August 2004.

She immediately admitted to detectives “executing” the 43-year-old in his bed, saying she thought he had been reaching for a gun.

The teenager was convicted on first degree murder charges and has now served 13 years of a life sentence that won’t see her eligible for parole until she’s 69.

Her case was the subject of a 2011 documentary, called Me Facing Life, Cyntoia’s Story, which detailed how she was regularly sexually abused as a teenager. The film has since prompted changes to the way the US justice system deals with teenagers facing life sentences.

However a campaign to have Brown released picked up a new momentum this week after an Instagram post about her case went viral and shared by a number of celebrities .

Murder and Trial 

On the night of 6 August 2004 Brown had been at a hotel with a drug dealer and pimp called Kutthroat, who ordered her out onto the street to make money for him.

Brown told investigators she was trying to hitchhike a ride to a seedy area of Nashville, when Allen approached her in his truck and solicited her for sex. The pair agreed a $150 (£110) fee and he drove her back to his home.

During the documentary, Brown said that Allen bragged to her about being a former military sharpshooter and showed her a number of guns when they got to his home, which left her feeling nervous.

It was when he rolled over in his bed that she said she thought he was reaching for a gun so she pulled out her own and shot Allen dead.

Free Cyntoia Brown Rihanna Cara Delevingne Kim Kardashian
Cyntoia Brown in court in 2006 Credit: YouTube/PBS

After she was arrested she gave a full confession to detectives, but had no legal representation at the time.

Brown was still legally a child when Allen solicited her for sex, but the Tennessee courts decided to try her as an adult.

Prosecutors argued that Brown killed Allen in order to steal from him and that she took several guns and his wallet after shooting him.

After a five day-trial in 2006 she was found guilty of first degree murder, felony murder and aggravated robbery and sentenced to life in jail with the possibility of parole only after 51 years.

'Facing Life'

Filmmaker, Daniel H. Birman, was given access to Brown by the correctional service early on in her case and made a documentary about her childhood and events leading up to the murder.

The film showed that Brown came from a family that has suffered a long history of abuse and violence against women, with her grandmother and mother both being victims of rape. Her mother, who had Brown as a teenager, gave her up for adoption as a baby, as she struggled with crack cocaine addiction.

Free Cyntoia Brown Rihanna Cara Delevingne Kim Kardashian
Cara Delevingne and Rihanna have both called for Cyntoia Brown to be released  Credit: Invision

Brown said from her early teenage years she was raped and abused by a number of violent men, who controlled her.

In an interview with Fox 17, Mr Birman said: “We started the conversation [with Brown being] a young girl who’s at the tail end of three generations of violence against women. She had no chance.”

The documentary helped prompt a debate in the US about life sentences for teenagers, with some legal experts arguing they deserved more leniency as the part of the brain that regulates violence is not fully developed in adolescents.

It resulted in the US Supreme Court ruling that mandatory life sentences for teenagers had to be reviewed.

Yet the ruling has done little to help Brown, as Tennessee already has a stipulation that life sentences for teenagers should be reviewed. However this is only after 51 years, which critics have called “virtual life sentence” in itself.

Campaign for release

The campaign to have Brown’s sentence reviewed and overturned gained momentum this week after a post calling for her release went viral on Instagram.

The justice system is so backwards!!! This is completely insane #freecyntoiabrown

A post shared by Cara Delevingne (@caradelevingne) on

Yesterday a slew of A-list celebrities lent their support by sharing the post to millions of followers with the hashtag #freecyntoiabrown

Rihanna shared the post to her 58 million followers asking “Did we somehow change the definition of #JUSTICE along the way??”

Model and actress Cara Delevingne also shared the post, as did Kim Kardashian, who said she had asked her personal lawyers to look into the case.

Meanwhile the campaign is now focusing on urging for direct intervention from Donald Trump, as a MoveOn.org petition calling for Brown to be given a presidential pardon has now garnered over 180,000 signatures.

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