Cyntoia Brown Granted Clemency by Tennessee Governor

A life sentence is "too harsh, especially in light of the extraordinary steps Ms. Brown has taken to rebuild her life," Gov. Bill Haslam said

Tennessee's governor granted clemency to Cyntoia Brown on Monday, commuting her sentence for killing a man while she said she was a teenage sex trafficking victim, NBC News reported.

Brown, now 30, was tried as an adult in 2006 and sentenced to life in prison for the death of Johnny Mitchell Allen, who had paid her for sex. She will be eligible for release to parole on Aug. 7.

Brown's supporters have said her punishment was too extreme. She's said she ran away from home and was living with a pimp who raped her and forced her to become a prostitute, shooting Allen because she believed he was reaching for a gun.

"Cyntoia Brown committed, by her own admission, a horrific crime at the age of 16," Gov. Bill Haslam said in a statement that went on to call the life sentence "too harsh, especially in light of the extraordinary steps Ms. Brown has taken to rebuild her life."

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