A Tennessee woman who is serving a life sentence for killing a man who hired her for sex when she was 16 has been granted clemency by Governor Bill Haslam after celebrities including Kim Kardashian rallied for her release.
Cyntoia Brown, now 30, was granted full clemency on Monday after serving 12 years in prison for the 2004 shooting death of 43-year-old Nashville man, Johnny Allen, when she was a prostitute.
Brown, who was originally ordered to serve at least 51 years in prison before being eligible for parole, will be eligible for release in August.
She will remain on parole for 10 years.
'This decision comes after careful consideration of what is a tragic and complex case,' Haslam said of granting Brown clemency.
Cyntoia Brown, now 30, was granted full clemency on Monday after serving 12 years in prison or killing a man who hired her for sex when she was 16 years old
'Cyntoia Brown committed, by her own admission, a horrific crime at the age of 16. 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.
'Transformation should be accompanied by hope. So, I am commuting Ms. Brown's sentence, subject to certain conditions.'
The 30-year-old was granted full clemency on Monday after serving 12 years in prison for the 2004 shooting death of 43-year-old Nashville man, Johnny Allen (above), when she was a prostitute
Brown said in a statement that she will do everything to justify Haslam's faith in her and thanked her family for their support.
'I am thankful for all the support, prayers, and encouragement I have received. We truly serve a God of second chances and new beginnings. The Lord has held my hand this whole time and I would have never made it without Him. Let today be a testament to His Saving Grace,' she said.
'Thank you to my family for being a backbone these past 14 years.
'I am thankful to my lawyers and their staffs, and all the others who, for the last decade have freely given of their time and expertise to help me get to this day.
'I love all of you and will be forever grateful. With God's help, I am committed to live the rest of my life helping others, especially young people. My hope is to help other young girls avoid ending up where I have been.'
As part of the conditions for her release, Brown will not be allowed to break any state or federal laws. She will also be subject to a release plan that could include work education, employment and counseling.
Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam granted Cyntoia Brown clemency on Monday. Brown will be eligible for release in August and will stay on parole for 10 years
Brown (left in her mugshot and right in court in 2006) was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison when she was 16 years old for the 2004 shooting
Brown was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison when she was 16 years old for the 2004 shooting death of the 43-year-old real estate agent.
She said Allen had picked her up and took her back to his house to have sex with her.
The teen was working as a prostitute at the time.
Brown has maintained she killed Allen because he kept reaching under the bed and she thought he was going for a weapon and was going to shoot her. Afterward, she took two of Allen's rifles, stole $172 from him and fled in his truck.
Prosecutors argued that the teenager killed Allen in order to rob him.
Her lawyers said she was a sex-trafficking victim and feared for her life.
'When I was 16 years old, I did a very horrible thing, and that has been with me for a very long time,' she said during one hearing.
'He didn't deserve to die. I was wrong. I was wrong. And I can't fix it.'
Kim Kardashian, Rihanna and other celebrities rallied for Brown as she fought her life sentence. After the news was revealed on Monday, Kardashian tweeted: 'Thank you Governor Haslam'.
Kim Kardashian, Rihanna and other celebrities rallied for Brown as she fought her life sentence. After the news was revealed, Kardashian tweeted: 'Thank you Governor Haslam'
Kim Kardashian announced in a tweet last year that she was going to have her legal team help Brown, who earned an associate degree from Lipscomb University while incarcerated
In the lead up to his clemency decision, Haslam's office was inundated with letters and pleas urging him to show Brown mercy.
Several Democratic Tennessee lawmakers held events calling for Haslam to offer mercy, while the lead detective who worked the case urged him against it.
'At the beginning of this investigation, I considered the possibility that Cyntoia Brown was justified in killing Johnny Allen,' wrote Charles Robinson - a homicide detective with the Metropolitan Nashville Police - in his seven-page letter to Haslam in 2017.
'At the conclusion of this investigation my findings were that she was not justified in killing Mr Allen and her only motivation for the murder was robbery.'
Several organizations also came to her defense, saying she was a sex trafficking victim who received an extremely harsh sentence.
A victim's right advocate - Verna Wyatt, executive director of Tennessee Voices for Victims - went to bat for Brown, while acknowledging that putting her in prison was the right thing to do.
'There has to be accountability for that,' she said.
But Wyatt, alluding to Brown selling her body, said Allen wasn't the only victim that night.
Wyatt was among a number of unlikely people and organizations pleading for mercy during a clemency hearing in December, saying Brown was a brilliant prison-educated woman who had become a mentor to troubled girls and young women.
A former federal prosecutor, along with a lawyer in the state attorney general's office who had once worked to fight one of Brown's appeals, said she had turned her life around. Two representatives from Tennessee-based victims' rights organizations, who normally argue for harsher sentences, defended her.
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https://hienalouca.com/2019/01/07/tennessee-governor-grants-clemency-to-convicted-murderer-cyntoia-brown/
Main photo article A Tennessee woman who is serving a life sentence for killing a man who hired her for sex when she was 16 has been granted clemency by Governor Bill Haslam after celebrities including Kim Kardashian rallied for her release.
Cyntoia Brown, now 30, was granted full clemency on Monday after serving ...
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Emily Ratajkowski is a showman, on and off the stage. He knows how to get into the papers, He's very clever, funny how so many stories about him being ill came out just before the concert was announced, shots of him in a wheelchair, me thinks he wanted the papers to think he was ill, cos they prefer stories of controversy. Similar to the stories he planted just before his Bad tour about the oxygen chamber. Worked a treat lol. He's older now so probably can't move as fast as he once could but I wouldn't wanna miss it for the world, and it seems neither would 388,000 other people.
Dianne Reeves Online news HienaLouca
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