Kim Kardashian has enlisted her legal team to help in the case of Cyntoia Brown, a former child sex slave who killed her pimp named Kutthroat when she was 16.
Brown’s case went viral this week when it emerged she had already served 13 years of a life sentence, and the now 29-year-old has secured the backing of the Miss Kardashian in her clemency campaign.
The reality TV star, who has been vocal in her disgust at Brown’s case, has instructed her lawyer Shawn Holley to help the campaign – and that as well of Alice Johnson’s – another prison inmates whose case has gone viral.
Cyntoia Brown (pictured in court) was just 16 when she was sex trafficked by a pimp named Kutthroat who was physically, sexually and verbally abusive
Johnson, a 62-year-old grandmother and former FedEx worker, is 21 years into a life sentence for her first-time, nonviolent drug conviction, where she acted as a messenger between drugs rings.
‘Kim asked me several weeks ago how she could help Alice Johnson in her fight for justice. We then began corresponding with Alice and her team of lawyers,’ Holley told the Daily News.
‘Since then, Kim has championed the cause of Cyntoia Brown and asked me to help her get involved in that effort as well,’ Holley said on Thursday.
Then 16-year-old Brown was sex trafficked by a pimp named Kutthroat who was physically, sexually and verbally abusive and eventually sold her to 43-year-old Nashville realtor Johnny Allen, a court heard during her trial in 2004.
Brown, who feared that former Army sharp shooter Allen planned to kill her, eventually grabbed one of her captor’s guns and killed him, Fox 17 reports.
Kim K (pictured) Rihanna and Cara Delevingne are now demanding justice for her
But when the case came to court, she was sentenced to life in prison. She won’t be eligible for parole for at least 51 years.
The case is getting new attention after a tweet showing Brown in court and detailing her case with the hashtag #FreeCyntoiaBrown went viral on Monday.
Celebrities beyond Miss Kardashian began using their fame to call for Justice for Brown.
Kim K said she has even called her own legal team to see if they can help fight Brown’s case.
‘The system has failed. It’s heart breaking to see a young girl sex trafficked then when she has the courage to fight back is jailed for life!’ she tweeted.
‘We have to do better & do what’s right. I’ve called my attorneys yesterday to see what can be done to fix this. #FreeCyntoiaBrown’.
British model Cara Delevingne was also horrified, writing in an Instagram post: ‘The justice system is so backwards!!! This is completely insane #freecyntoiabrown.’
Singer Rihanna said something had gone ‘horribly wrong’ for a sex trafficked, 16-year-old girl to be jailed for life for shooting her abuser.
‘We somehow change the definition of #JUSTICE along the way??’ she wrote in an Instagram post, ’cause….. Something is horribly wrong when the system enables these rapists and the victim is thrown away for life!
‘To each of you responsible for this child’s sentence I hope to God you don’t have children, because this could be your daughter being punished for punishing already!’
Singer Lauren Jauregui also tweeted her fury, demanding the courts ‘stop punishing and shaming victims, telling them it is their fault is untrue.’
The case is getting new attention after this tweet showing Brown in court and detailing her case with the hashtag #FreeCyntoiaBrown went viral on Monday
Rapper Tip wrote ‘Free da GOAT’ with a picture of Brown on his Instagram
Singer Lauren Jauregui also tweeted her fury, demanding the courts ‘stop punishing and shaming victims, telling them it is their fault is untrue’
During her trial, it was revealed Brown was a runaway who was forced into prostitution by Kutthroat.
She testified that she was repeatedly hit, choked, and dragged, and almost always had a gun pointing at her.
Before she was sold to Allen, she’d repeatedly been raped and given drugs, which she said made her paranoid.
Brown, now in her 20s, said that when she arrived a Allen’s home she found it was full of guns and became convinced he was going to kill her.
Her mother also testified in court that she had drank heavily while pregnant with Brown who had fetal alcohol syndrome which can cause mild to severe mental birth defects.
But prosecutors said that the motivation for murder had been robbery as the teen had taken Allen’s wallet and guns after shooting him.
Brown was sentenced to 51 years to life for first degree murder and prostitution at the Tennessee Prison for Women.
Cyntoia Brown of the Tennessee Prison for Women delivers a commencement address before receiving her associate degree from Lipscomb University in 2015
Wendy Tucker rubs Cyntoia Brown’s back during closing arguments in her trial in Nashville
The shocking sentence actually helped change the laws surrounding child sex slaves and today, minors cannot be charged with prostitution.
Derri Smith, the Founder of End Slavery, told Fox News: ‘She did kill someone, she deeply regrets it, but she was a child and she was being exploited.’
Brown’s case was featured in Daniel H. Birman’s 2011 PBS documentary, Me Facing Life: Cyntoia’s Story, which revealed she came from three generations of horrific abuse against women as her grandmother and mother had been raped.
‘She had no chance,’ Birman said of Brown.
Brown, now 29, has completed her associate’s degree behind bars and is reportedly working on her bachelors.
She also works as an unpaid consultant for the Juvenile Justice system.
‘I myself can create opportunities to help people [behind bars],’ Brown said.
In 2011, Birman’s film led Tennessee to enact a new law which grants immunity to children who are forced into prostitution before the age of 18.
The documentary revealed that Brown has been at risk since before she was born.
At her trial, her mother testified that during her pregnancy with Brown, she drank at least a fifth of a gallon of liquor a day.
Her lawyers argued to the court that Brown’s judgment was impaired because she contracted Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder.
The attorneys presented scans of her brain which they said showed the effects of the illness.
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder is known to adversely affect impulse control and cognitive abilities.
Brown’s case was featured in Daniel H. Birman’s 2011 PBS documentary, Me Facing Life: Cyntoia’s Story, which revealed she came from three generations of horrific abuse against women as her grandmother and mother had been raped
Her biological mother, Georgina Mitchell, also engaged in prostitution, according to Nashville Scene.
Her family was known for having a history of suicide and mental illness.
Brown’s adopted father was also an alcoholic who beat his wife in front of her.
Cyntoia Brown also drank alcohol when she was as young as nine.
When she was 16 years old, she would often smoke marijuana and take ecstasy while living in Nashville with a woman who cared for neglected children.
At night, she would sneak out of the home and go to nightclubs, where she would party with older men.
Brown was at a friend’s house in a local housing project where she was selling crack for a man who was in prison at the time but was about to be released.
That man turned out to be ‘Kutthroat,’ also known by his birth name Garion McGlothen.
McGlothen, 24 at the time, befriended Brown. He invited her to join him a trip to Florida, where they would buy, sell, and use cocaine.
Before leaving for Florida, McGlothen took Brown to a motel room in Nashville and gave her a vodka drink that she believes was laced with a drug that left her unconscious.
Afterward, McGlothen proceeded to rape her numerous times.
McGlothen would then send Brown to service men sexually. She would charge $250, which she later split with McGlothen so he could fund his motel room as well as his cocaine habit.
On August 5, 2004, she was solicited by Allen in the parking lot of a Sonic drive-in fast food restaurant in Nashville.
At around 11pm that night, he drove her back to his home.
The documentary revealed that Brown has been at risk since before she was born. At her trial, her mother testified that during her pregnancy with Brown, she drank at least a fifth of a gallon of liquor a day. Her lawyers argued to the court that Brown’s judgment was impaired because she contracted Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
Brown testified that she feared Allen would kill her. She said her paranoia was fueled by a two-week cocaine bender.
Brown said Allen would side up next to her in bed naked and try to grab her crotch. When she resisted his advances, she said she saw him reach for something.
Fearing he was going to grab a gun, she took out a pistol given to her by McGlothen and shot Allen in the head.
Brow killed Allen with a .40 caliber pistol – the same weapon used in shooting months earlier at a nightclub for which McGlothen was wanted.
She then took guns from Allen’s home and loaded them into his truck. She drove back to McGlothen’s hotel room.
When McGlothen was furious that she allowed herself to be seen with weapons, she drove the truck with the guns to a nearby Walmart.
Surveillance footage showed her dumping guns in the parking lot. She then left the truck there and flagged down a black SUV for a ride back to the hotel.