Cyntoia Denise Brown (née Mitchell; born January 29, 1988) is a woman who, at the age of 16, was convicted of murder. Her story is detailed in Me Facing Life: Cyntoia's Story, a 2011 documentary by filmmaker Dan Birman. On December 6, 2018, the Tennessee Supreme Court issued a ruling on Cyntoia Brown's case, stating that she would be eligible for parole after serving 51 years. In 2018, several celebrities, notably Rihanna, and Cara Delevingne took an interest in Brown's case and took to social media to raise the awareness about it. In 2019, she has been granted full clemency. She is set to be released on August 7th of this year.Me Facing Life: Cyntoia's Story is a documentary film about Cyntoia Brown, a 16-year old sentenced to 51 years for the murder of Johnny Allen. Brown claims she had been forced into prostitution at an early age, which investigators disputed due to a lack of physical evidence. Brown further claims she killed Allen in self-defense, adding she feared she was likely to be murdered by him. Prosecutors argued the physical evidence present at the crime scene suggested Allen was asleep at the time of the murder. This film, detailing her arrest and subsequent conviction, was produced by Daniel H. Birman and premiered on PBS's Independent Lens series on March 1, 2011.
