Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
A 29-YEAR-OLD woman who killed a man who hired her as a prostitute when she was 16 is receiving a swell of support from celebrities.
Cyntoia Brown has spent the past 13 years in prison and will not be eligible for parole until she is at least 67.
This week celebrities such as Kim Kardashian, Rihanna, Le Bron James and Cara Delevingne have given public support to Brown and are using the hashtag #FreeCyntoiaBrown.
According to the New York Times, Brown had a difficult childhood. She was adopted but dropped out of elementary school and ran away to Nashville.
She was living in a motel with a pimp known as Kut Throat when she became a prostitute.
Testifying during her trial, Associated Press reports that Brown said:
He would explain to me that some people were born whores, and that I was one, and I was a slut, and nobody’d want me but him, and the best thing I could do was just learn to be a good whore.
In August 2004, a 43-year-old man called Johnny Allen picked up Brown in his truck and drove her to his home where he showed her guns and the pair then got into bed.
Court documents reveal that Brown had thought Allen was reaching for a gun when she pulled a handgun from her purse and shot him.
She then took Allen’s wallet and two of his guns before going to a hotel where she was later arrested.
Cyntoia was tried as an adult and the jury rejected her claim of self-defence, handing down a life sentence.
A documentary about her life “Me Facing Life: Cyntoia’s Story” was part of PBS’s Independent Lens series broadcast in 2011.
It’s not known what caused the celebrity support this week, although FOX 17 reported that it was denied a request to interview her last week.
It described Brown as a child sex slave who was physically, sexually and verbally abused.
However Jeff Burks, who prosecuted Brown, told Fox 17 that she shouldn’t be considered a victim.
There has been a group of people who have wanted to make Brown a victim and a celebrity since this happened.
“She was not ‘trafficked’ nor was she a ‘sex slave.’ It’s not fair to the victim and his family that the other side of this case is so seldom heard.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Good old celebs, the morals police.
@Let free speech live:
In this case they aren’t too far wrong. But the girl would have been better off killing her pimp.
Still, an adult paying for sex with a child, he deserved what he got. Speaking as a mother and a former 16 year old girl.
@Lily:
You were never 16 Lily!
And if you were you only looked 8
@Lily: Well 2 wrongs don’t make a right. Did the victim know the girls age? Or are you taking it for granted he did? Either way it’s the pimp is the real criminal. The fact she robbed the man after she killed him raises questions like was this guy caught in a sting with the girl and the pimp and it went wrong? Who reports getting robbed by a hooker
@Clever Jake: I never defended the deceased, if he was alive I would hope he would get a similar sentence to his killer. All I know is she killed him and robbed him, if it was self defense why did she rob him? If I killed someone defending myself my first taught would be get somewhere safe not get his money then go somewhere safe. But look if it makes you feel better putting words in my mouth knock yourself out.
@Let free speech live:
Those men keep pimps in jobs (with their desire /requests for young girls) without their custom there would be no pimps! Pimps take advantage of young vulnerable girls, but their customers are equally as bad!
The prosecutor paints the man as an innocent victim, he was far from that!
@Let free speech live:
Get somewhere safe! She just killed a man she didn’t have much options. Safe? No where was safe for her. She went back to her pimp. One could only imagine it’s because he was the only person their for her in recent times and she was dependent on him. As a vulnerable kid he groomed / coerced her into submission either by fear or by gifts. He manipulated her into believing she needed him and only him.
It’s a cruel twisted scene she probably felt safer with him than on the street. She could have meant to run but got scared. Your mind can do funny things when you panic, I presume she did panic.
@Clever Jake: look I’m going off the facts in the article, it doesn’t even say he had sex with her, maybe he found out her age and said no so she shot him for the money. A jury who heard all the facts found her guilty, not me I’m just going off the article I read, we’re you at the trial?
@Lily: Totally agree with you, they keep the pimps in business. What that man was planning on doing was wrong on so many levels and he should have to face justice but he can’t because he was MURDERED. I didn’t decide this the jury the girl was before decided this but you seem to know everything because Rihanna hash tagged it, come off your high horse and write to the courts instead
@Let free speech live:
Actually I went and looked up a few other news sites. I find your comment insulting as I dont follow hastags or Rihanna.
I’m putting myself into the kids shoes, I can’t imagine any 16 year old wanting to have sex with loads of old men, I can see some doing it out of a necessity but mostly being coerced, or threatened into doing it. Some are hooked on drugs as a way to make them dependent.
Have you seen the film based on real life events called ‘The Whistleblower’ it’s horrific. And gives true representation of what it’s like to be pimpped out.
What she needed was real help. Yes she killed him and she was only 16 so no I don’t agree with the sentence I think her sentence has been served. She’s paid her price.
@Lily: Well if you are talking about the sentence it is way way over the top. As I said I’m only commenting on the article here and going off the facts in it. It says she is not a victim or a sex slave. Look at the end of the day I agree with you, just not here I don’t think she shot him in self defence. Now to be clear I’m not defending peados, no punishment is good enough for them and I hope they all die screaming but the law is the law and in this case she was guilty.
@Let free speech live: Nice slap down :) :)
@Let free speech live: only the prodecution said she was not a victim or a sex slave. She was only a child FGS.
@Let free speech live:
We are allowed differences of opinion, with a name of ‘let free speech live’ you should really encourage differences of opinions ;)
Some say she was a sex slave, the prosecutor says she wasn’t. He also said the victim was innocent, something I would have to disagree with! It says he paid to have sex with her. Fact! No one disputes this. It says she was 16. Fact no one disputes this. The age of consent is 18 in Nashville. Fact!
The law today says that no one under the age of 18 can be charged with prostitution. That they are in fact exploited children and are victims of sex trafficing . Fact!
If she were tried today it would not be the same verdict!
@Brendan Fogarty: Again Brendan only going off the facts of the article. That is what the prosecution said not me. Do you know more about this case than the prosecution?
@Lily: I’m actually enjoying our little debate, I don’t think I told you shut up or anything so not sure why you think I’m not encouraging free speech? We have a difference of opinion, which is no big deal, I agree with a lot of what you said and disagree with other points, which is what debate is all about. Even if I 100% disagreed with you I would still want you to put your opinion forward. If we don’t listen to people with different views and opinions our minds would never expand.
@Clever Jake: ah the old I have run out of valid points so I will call you a name, good one. Try racist in your next comment, that is always a great comeback.
@Let free speech live:
Until next time
X
@Lily: No worries Lily, have a good evening and I hope we have another debate again soon :)
@Clever Jake: oh so it’s the whole justice system, you’re changing your argument there. You make lots of assumptions about me. You seemed to be getting upset because I have a different opinion to you. Why are you upset, tell me why does a random stranger with a different opinion to you upset you so much? If you want to get personal with me drive on, not my bag though I prefer to stick to the topic. But if you sleep better at night because you got to put words in my mouth and call me names, well good for you vent on me as it’s water off a ducks back to me.
@Clever Jake: Where did I defend him? Did I question the scenario? I sure did, but say it’s ok to be a peado? Nope but it looks like you’re on the celebrity bandwagon with a closed mind. You think you know more about the case than the jury who heard all the facts and convicted her. You seem to think you no more than the prosecution and the DA who brought the murder charges forward, why do you know more than them? Your last comment was about racial injustice and now we are back to you putting words in my mouth, peado defender blah blah.
@Clever Jake: No doubt the American justice system is f’ed up and it is probably nigh on impossible in some states for foreign or black people to get a fair trial, totally agree with you. But you think asking a question to establish some facts is defending a peado which is not the case. He hired a prostitute (not a fan but not the issue) I only wanted to know did he actively go looking for a young girl or did he pick up the first girl he found not knowing her age? The answer to that question makes a big difference to me and my opinion. Hollywood is a cesspit and I don’t need hypocrites telling me what is right and wrong.
I will never understand the american legal system eligible for parole at 67, what a sentence to give a 16 year old, Thing is american thinks tough justice works, all the evidence is , it has not effect on law and order. Were she white, might have had a different outcome.
@Dáithí Ó Raghallaigh: Do white people not get life for murder also? I didn’t realise that….
@Dave Murray: not so sure too many white 16 yo olds go to jail for over 50 years, But I am sure if your white and its alleged you a pedophile you can get elected to congress, imagine allegation like that against a black candidate.
@Dáithí Ó Raghallaigh: A very different outcome if she was white. What a joke of a sentence.
@Dave Murray: it’s a pretty well established fact that black people are more likely to be found guilty, are more likely to get tougher sentences and are also more likely to get the death sentence than white people tried for similar crimes.
@KingBen: frank. Tony or what ever your calling yourself today, got up on the wrong side again.
@Dermot Lane: That is true. But when you do a regression analysis, it turns out that socio-economic group is a far more important factor than race. And having a decent lawyer makes a bigger difference than either.
@Clever Jake: because I posted :
I will never understand the american legal system eligible for parole at 67, what a sentence to give a 16 year old, Thing is american thinks tough justice works, all the evidence is , it has not effect on law and order. Were she white, might have had a different outcome. ??????????????
@Clever Jake: not so clever… Ha ha.
@Clever Jake: ok Jake I’ll give you a chance to redeem yourself and not look like a big idiot. How can you say I’m am part of the KKK or far right because I called Daithi a racist bigot after his comment? Do tell, this will be interesting. An insightful comment from the far left is on the way. Don’t let your peeps down now. Make it good.
@Dave Murray: Exactly. Education and upbringing more relevant then skin colour. Unless of course you are just waiting to turn every issue into skin colour.
@Dáithí Ó Raghallaigh: it’s probably more about being poor than being black. It’s true that poor people can’t afford the same level of “justice” that comes with hiring a big shot lawyer. However the statistics show that blacks commit a disproportionate amount of murders in the US.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_and_crime_in_the_United_States
@Dáithí Ó Raghallaigh: This is the kind of case that’s probably not a good idea to get embroiled in. Neither you nor I have all the facts that a jury has. And celebrities should definitely stay out if it. If there was a mistrial then that’s a different matter.
@Clever Jake: as I thought, you make no sense. You have no idea what you are talking about. Just a troll with nothing to add to any conversation. Epic fail at redeeming yourself.
Celebrities assemble!
Well I see some of the celebrities have obviously had the benefit of reading the case file and cross examining all of the witnesses…. Really entertaining to observe how public opinion on social media sticks to a story….
She should never have been prosecuted.
@Fiona deFreyne: I love this difficult childhood story..They use that line in Ireland all the time..Do the time when you do the crime
@Fiona deFreyne:
On the face of it if she hadn’t have stole his wallet and a couple of his guns I’d agree. You’d have to question what did she want them for?
@Fiona deFreyne: Not prosecuted for murdering someone? Yikes.
@Fiona deFreyne:
I think you might feel differently if you were from the victim’s family.
@Fiona deFreyne: ???seriously?? so she could go out and murder again….the “victim” here is the guy down the graveyard…not this murderer that some celebrities have take a shine to
@Fiona deFreyne:
Thats really a bit dumb to suggest she shouldn’t be prosecuted for murder. On what basis and who would decide when someone should or should not be prosecuted for murder? However, I do believe that the sentence is too harsh and doesn’t appear to have taken all the factors into account. But like you and everyone else, I am only reading bits about this on social media and do not understand all of the facts.
@Fiona deFreyne: If this is what we are facing in the future of Western world, I vote for Islam instead…
@cormac o neill: but you’re ok with a 43 year old man sleeping with a 16 year old girl? In the US, in most states if not all, that would be considered statutory rape. I’m dubious about the prosecution’s case that it was a premeditated crime and she certainly was justified in shooting him if it was in self defence, quite plausible if this guy wanted to keep get rid of a girl he’d just raped but even it was premeditated, I have very little sympathy for the “victim”. That’s not a justification I just don’t think 43 year old men who prey on 16 year old girls should somehow be regarded as victims.
@Conor Kennelly:
You’re assuming he knew she was 16. What if she told him she was 18? Would he still deserve to be murdered?
@Avina Laaf: So you’re defending a 43 year old guy, who pays to sleep with a 16 year old girl, how very noble of you.
She definitely should not have been tried as an adult
@Conor Kennelly:
PS. your post is factually incorrect – the age of consent throughout most of the USA is 16.
@Larissa Caroline Nikolaus:
I’m not defending him – I just don’t think he deserved to have his brains blown out.
@Conor Kennelly: in the US in most if not all states 16 yr old’s are sexually active. It’d be tough to prove statutory rape. Agree he was 43 so it’s a bit sick but she was a prostitute who I’d imagine could easily have passed for 18. Way I’m reading it he hired her, showed her some of his possessions and then went to bed where she decided to kill and rob him. Does not sound like self defence and men do not deserve to die for hiring a prostitute. I think she is where she is supposed to be.
@Avina Laaf: And what’s the age of consent to be pimped out and paid for ?
@Avina Laaf: The pedo who bought a child for sex? Hard to feel sympathy for him.
@DaisyChainsaw: Same people who if any other guy had been found with a child “prostitute” would be demanding his balls be cut off or that he should be shot..
@Clever Jake:
Ah grow up
@Clever Jake:
Who do you think is being a ‘paedo rape apologist’ here, or did you just want to make a point by twisting what people actually said?
No way , she’s a murderer and the hug a thug ,do gooders and celebrity morality police department are jumping on what’s seen a just cause for publicity and solical media likes.
So you’re pro-child rape, Nelly?
@JayK: I think Nelly is anti-murder.
@JayK: All white heterosexual males are potential rape, no one is innocent. Let’s start to hunt them !!
@cortisola: so you think it’s ok for 43 year old men to prey on 16 year old girls?
@Conor Kennelly: I think rape is bad, never stated otherwise. Do you think killing people because they hurt you is OK @Conor?
@JayK: says the pro- murderer
@JayK: Firstly you are assuming he knew what age she was. She was the one that was on the street propsitioning men to rent her for sexual activities. I would very much doubt he went specifically looking for a sixteen year old girl nor would have likely asked her for proof of age. Secondly she herself was armed illegally. She went with him to his house of her own free will. Whether she had planned to rob him from the start we don’t know. But what what we do know is that she produced her own gun, shot an murdered this man. Then stole his wallet and two guns and fled the scene. If it was as she claimed Self Defence, then why have the sense of purpose to steal from and flee the crime scene. Yes he was guilty of soliciting a prostitute but in no US state does that crime involve a Death Sentence
@Clever Jake: Firstly no sex took place so nobody was raped as you put it. Secondly unless he specifically looked for a girl that was under age then your accusation that he was a paedophile is unfounded. Nor would he have known if she was selling sex under duress. Her testimony was that “She thought he was reaching for a gun”. We only have her word on that statement. For all you, I or anyone else knows She may have went with him with the intention of robbing him at gun point. And She did take the time to rob the body and take two further guns. If you just shot somebody would you have the presence mind to go looking for things to steal? But because you have no cognizant rebuttal argument, you try, like others to make it personal instead of reviewing the facts as they stand.
@Clever Jake: And a little addendum. The victim was shot in the Back of the Head while laying face down. Sounds more like an execution style killing than a case of self defence.
@Clever Jake: her age is nothing to do with it . She was a prostitute who shot her John in the back of the head . The fact she was 16 is sad and not right but it does not condone murder and as for the dead ‘John ” ,he brought the whole situation on himself.
@Clever Jake: Again you are accusing the victim of Paedophilia. Yet during the trial the was no evidence was produced by the defence that he was a paedophile nor that he specifically looked for under age girls. Secondly the victim was shot in the Back of the Head at close range while he was laying face down. This alone disputes her claim of self defence. She then had the presence of mind to take the victims wallet and two guns which she later sold. She also had arranged to meet others in a car park after the murder where she sold the victims guns before returning to the hotel where she was staying. Now looking at the facts and her actions on the night, the Jury came to the conclusion that this was a Robbery Homicide and not as was her claim of self defence.
@Clever Jake: There was no evidence that he had a gun anywhere near him when he was murdered. He was shot laying face down with both hands under his head. These are the actual facts of the case not assumptions and speculations that you are providing. It was a Jury that listened and weighed up the evidence and found the the Prosecution had proven beyond reasonable doubt that She had murdered him before robbing his corpse, home and car. And I will ask you again where is the evidence that he specifically sought out someone under age. His crime was to solicit a prostitute for sex nothing more. And unless you can provide proof that he had a history of seeking underage girls for sex or specifically sought out a 16 yr old girl on that night for sex your constant accusations are victim blaming
@Mick Jordan: stop arguing with jake we all know how clever he is and that he knows much more about this case than the judge, jury and prosecution who heard all the facts because he read a article on the journal. and If you disagree with it means you are a paedo
@johnp: All true.
@Mick Jordan: the man who calls himself clever Jake is obviously an ape and a supporter of criminals
When celebs come out with one viewpoint it’s a safe bet to hold the opposite view imo.
She did the crime now do the time.
@Horace: OK. What should the time be?
To put it into perspective, the average term served for a full life sentence is 22 years in Ireland. Back in the 1980s it was under 8 years.
She shot him in the head after taking his money,16 or not that’s murder
@darrell fahy: Killing heterosexual males seems to be no crime anymore. I start to think Muslim migrant turning Europe into califat may be not bad idea…
@darrell fahy:
He was paying to have sex with a 16 year old child. If you were that girl shooting him and running off with his money would have been SURVIVAL INSTINCT! An escape route from the pimp, from her dire situation.
@neilo: Wasn’t Brevic guy the one who started to kill people he doesn’t like? Just like the girl from article.
@darrell fahy: The way l read it, she took his money AFTER shooting him, not the other way round
@Lily: The victim was shot in the Back of the Head while laying face down. Not exactly a threatening position. That is where her Self Defence claim falls down. After the murder she took the victims car and drove to a car park where she was picked up by two others. She sold the victims guns to to them before being dropped off at her hotel. Does that should like the actions of someone traumatised after killing someone in self defence?
@Mick Jordan: be careful. You are actually putting facts into the discussion . Let’s stick to half baked emotive sweeping statements . Your insistence on looking at the case and the actual events will not be tolerated.
Liberals gone off the rails again
She must have had a shocking lawyer! How can that be seen as anything other than self defense?
@Kian: She killed him and robbed him, how can you think that is self defence?
@Kian: Because it was a robbery as well
@Kian:
He didn’t attack her – how can it have been self-defence??
@Avina Laaf:
Easy!
She was forced into having sex with a man she didn’t want to have sex with. Protected herself by shooting him and taking his money so she could escape from the pimp. All acts to ensure her survival, self preservation, self defense!
@Lily: Where are you getting all these things from? None of this is in the article.
@Let free speech live:
Prehaps I would have been a better defense lawyer than the one she had!!!
Because obviously her one was useless. None of these were in the article but would have been a plausible defense.
@Let free speech live: Ok, so after she shot the paedofile, you think she should have just returned to her pimp??..You think she could have gone her own way??..Its not like the pimp was giving her a salary, health insurance and a pension plan… ffs her only way to survive was to take the dirty paedos money and run for it!!…Disgusting, despicable people on here claiming he was a victim in all this.. he’s a dirty paedofile, I am delighted she gave him a bullet in the skull!!
@Lord Clanricarde: So you are ok with murder? Are you ok with the death penalty? Should murderers get the death penalty?
@Lord Clanricarde: So many assumptions, where you getting all your facts from because it ain’t this article. People like me should be tracked by Gardaí because I don’t agree with you, brilliant looney left at its finest. You are working off the assumption he was a peado and deserved to die(they all do) but maybe he found out her age and said no out I’m not doing that with an underage girl get out. Maybe she thought sh 1t Kut throat will beat me and bang he is dead and she has the cash. Is that scenario at all possible to you?
@Lord Clanricarde: oh also the law says he is the victim not me, are you not law abiding? Btw you are the one victim blaming not me. #notjusticebecausecelebssayso.
She need to be in a psychiatric hospital not prison or free. she needs guidance and care in a controlled environment with Alot of help and stability. Don’t free but help her as this is not a person that is capability for every day normalities and it would be be wrong to think otherwise.
@Gemma Whelan: She shot a man lying face down on a bed in the back of the head then robbed him and sold his belongings. That doesn’t sound like she needs mental help, but is where she deserves to be.
This woman murdered a man and robbed him. She should stay exactly where she is. She is a danger to society and must pay for her crime.
https://twitter.com/BuzzFeedNews/status/933452676586553344 BuzzFeedNews erroneously claiming she killed the man who sex- trafficked her. In their bio they claim they’re the most trusted @username in news.
Seems to me straight forward case. She killed and robbed her client. End of. A lot of kids run away and fall into prostitution, few kill there clients. Bad for business. Then comes along the celebs bitching about a poor black girl. She’s a killer and in America she got her just deserts
@David Gannon: Prostitution is illegal to begin with… This is not as straightforward as you’d like to make it seem. She has done a long sentence already and has become a model prisoner in the mean time.
Who would have guessed that a lad called Kut Throat would be a bad egg? What possible clue could the poor girl have had?
Look at that, all the lads out in force defending child rapists. Why am I not shocked?
@Veronica: its just as bad as defending murderers and thieves right?
@James Reardon: yeah, the man who raped a kid is JUST THE SAME as a trafficked child killing her rapist. Go figure.
@Veronica: where is the rape in this case?
War of the sexes, but this is for real.
@cortisola: yes, grown men raping girls is indeed a war of the sexes.
She still killed someone, how ridiculous
@Peter Brophy: So you don’t believe in rehabilitation in some circumstances? Considering what she went through before the murder and now that she has become a model prisoner a mentor to other prisoners and she is now working on getting her masters. It seems like she could be an asset to society and may be helpful to try and help young girls who are in the same situation as her when she was younger. It costs a hell of a lot of money to keep these people in Jail, that money could go to programmes for at risk youths.
America is an insane country, a notch above NK. Just look at its friends and allies! What she did was wrong, but, two wrongs never make a right. I was reading that in some US state two unarmed Burglars were confronted by home owner who forced them to kneel and shot dead one dead when cops came in. The suriving burglar was found guilty of MURDER! 75 years, yes the land of the free and home of the brave.
Murder is murder, she did it and she’ll be punished according to the law. So called celebrities need to live in the real world not fantasy ville….. morons
No excuse for murder period.
So based on all this, someone can claim rape, then murder the alleged rapist and then should not be tried for murder !!
So this ‘defense’ is only available in sex abuse type cases or what ?
A person bullies/ beats up someone else, causes horrific lifetime injuries to another, this person then kills the perpetrator ,… so should that person be not tried for murder ..
Of course they should
Woman teacher molests/rapes a young boy, later the boy kills the woman teacher, suppose the same defense applies !!…. Not
I don’t know the case and can’t really say if she should be released or not. Her sentence seems very long though. There doesn’t seem to be much consistency on sentencing in the US. It’s hard to make sense of it all.
O well, if the celebs say she should be released then so be it. Realistically, if she lived in Ireland she would have been released long ago. However, if the shortened version of her situation is to be believed and given her young age when the crime was committed, I think there is a case for giving her a second chance
Typical of celebrities to want justice for something done over a decade ago
So she had her own firearm in her own purse that she shot a man dead with? Trafficked from where? Why didn’t she use her own firearm on the “pimp”? So many unanswered questions that need to be answered before she garners any sympathy?
have your say