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Kim Kardashian has enlisted a lawyer to help free Cyntoia Brown, a woman who was jailed for killing a man who picked her up for sex when she was 16.
Brown was sentenced to life in prison in 2004 for shooting dead Nashville estate agent Johnny Allen. At the time of the killing she being pimped by her violent boyfriend – nicknamed “Kutthroat“ – and she claims she killed the Mr Allen because she feared he was going to hurt her.
Ms Kardashian has also asked her lawyer to help in the case of Alice Johnson, a former Fed-Ex worker who helped transfer messages between members of a cocaine ring in the 1990s. Johnson has served 21 years of a life sentence and is now a 62-year-old grandmother.
“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,” Shawn 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.”
Ms Holley was on a team of lawyers who defended OJ Simpson, who was found not guilty of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.
In a Twitter post that has been re-tweeted 220,000 times, Ms Kardashian said: ”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! We have to do better & do what’s right. I’ve called my attorneys yesterday to see what can be done to fix this,”
Ms Kardashian is just one of several high-profile individuals who has expressed support for Brown. Rihanna, Cara Delevingne, LeBron James and Snoop Dogg have also shared posts calling for her release.
At her trial Brown says before she killed Mr Allen he showed her his gun collection and told her he used to be a “sharp shooter” in the army.
She told the court: “He grabbed me in-between my legs — he just grabbed it real hard. I’m thinking he’s going to hit me or do something like it.”
Mr Allen reached to the side of the bed and Ms Brown said she believed he was reaching for a gun. She said she was convinced she was about to die when she shot him in the head with a handgun that Kutthroat had given her.
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