Cyntoia Brown-Long, now 33, spent 15 years in prison after she was convicted of first-degree murder of Johnny Allen, a 43-year-old real estate agent, in 2004.
At the time, she was just 16 years old and says a victim of sex-trafficking. She said her pimp raped her and forced her into prostitution, repeatedly raped by different men for weeks. At the time, she said she was fearful for her life with Allen
In her first television interview since she was released from prison, Brown-Long told “NBC Nightly News” anchor Lester Holt that she feels like she’s been given a “great opportunity.”
Just last year, the Tennessee Supreme Court ruled she must serve 51 years, year 2055, before she would be eligible for parole. This sparked a celebrity-driven campaign from Kim Kardashian West, LeBron James, Meek Mill and Rihanna, who brought national attention to her case. Brown-Long said to Holt the celebrity attention made her nervous.
“I was like, I don’t want the governor to think that, like, I’ve done this, like, to try to kinda, like, you know, push his hand. Like, that could backfire. That can look really bad,” she said.
In January 2019, then Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam commuted her sentence, writing “imposing a life sentence on a juvenile that would require her to serve at least 51 years before even being eligible for parole consideration is too harsh, especially in light of the extraordinary steps Ms. Brown has taken to rebuild her life.”
Brown-Long found love in prison, to a man whose letters touched her. She and Christian rapper, Jaime Long, got married. In his first letter to Cyntoia, Jaime wrote, “I believe the more that your story gets heard, the more people will start praying for your freedom.”
“I want them to see that I’m so much more than the worst thing that I’ve done. You know, I’m so much more than that moment,” she told Holt.
Now, having returned to the outside world after spending half of her life in prison, Brown is 2 years out and still finding her way enjoying her life. Everyday things like using technology can take some getting used to. As she adjusts, Brown is making sure to keep her circle of friends tight. “I’m in a completely different area socially,” she says in an exclusive interview with Essence.com. “I don’t associate with…
the same people, which I think is very important when it comes to growing from your mistakes. You have to make different decisions. You can’t just put yourself back in the same situations. I would never even associate with men like the ones I used to associate with. It’s just—it’s stupid. It would actually meet the definition of insanity.”
Instead of falling back in with her old crowd, Brown wants to use her newfound freedom for good. She’s currently forming a nonprofit organization, the Foundation for Justice, Freedom and Mercy, which will aim to shed light on the workings of the criminal justice system as she puts the college education she pursued while in prison to use. She’s even considering law school as an option. “I’m committed to the same fight that got me free,” she says. “I definitely think that there’s a need for reform, not just in prison but in sentencing and the way justice is [handed] out in our country. I’m committed to [fighting] for all the other people who are just like me.”
Her book, “Free Cyntoia: My Search for Redemption in the American Prison System” was released on October 15.
Brown-Long will be on parole until 2029.
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