Rihanna, Kim Kardashian and Cara Delevingne are among a number of celebrities championing the cause of former teen prostitute Cyntoia Brown, who at 16 was sentenced to life in prison for killing a man who paid her for sex.

Brown, who is now 29, has been behind bars in Tennessee for over a decade, serving a life sentence for first-degree murder in the death of Johnny Allen.

Brown shot Allen in the back of the head while he lay naked in his bedroom in August 2004, according to .

Brown has said the man was a john, and that she was working as a child prostitute at the time for a man who called himself “Cut Throat.” She has not denied the killing, but has claimed she shot him because she thought he was reaching for a gun.

At trial in 2004, she was found guilty of first-degree premeditated murder, first-degree felony murder and especially aggravated robbery.

A version of Brown’s story has been making the rounds on social media this week under the hashtag #FreeCyntoiaBrown. The story does not entirely match court documents from Brown’s case, including her own statement about the night of the killing.

“Imagine at the age of 16 being sex-trafficked by a pimp named ‘cut-throat,’” the story says. “After days of being repeatedly drugged and raped by different men you were purchased by a 43-year-old predator who took you to his home to use you for sex. You end up finding enough courage to fight back and shoot and kill him.

“Your (sic) arrested as a result tried and convicted as an adult and sentenced to life in prison. This is the story of Cyntoia Brown. She will be eligible for parole when she is 69 years old.”

According to court documents from 2014, Brown said she agreed to have sex with the victim for US$150. She did not say she was “sold” to him. She also said she reached for the gun because she thought he “was gonna get a gun or he is gonna do something to me,” and that she “just… reacted,” using a gun provided to her by Cut-throat.

A number of celebrities have shared the social media version of story this week, adding their own commentary and calling for Brown’s release.

“The system has failed,” Kim Kardashian tweeted on Tuesday. “I’ve called my attorneys yesterday to see what can be done to fix this.”

“Did we somehow change the definition of #JUSTICE along the way?” Rihanna wrote on Instagram. “Something is horribly wrong when the system enables these rapists and the victim is thrown away for life!”

 

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called the situation “completely insane.”

In 2011, Brown was the subject of a PBS documentary titled “Me Facing Life: Cyntoia’s Story.” The documentary generated renewed interest in her case and helped her find a lawyer to push for sentencing relief. However, the court ruled against her in 2014, stating that she “has not established by clear and convincing evidence that her due process rights were violated.”