State lawmakers urge clemency for woman convicted as teen

NASHVILLE — Several Democratic Tennessee lawmakers are urging Republican Gov. Bill Haslam to grant clemency to a woman convicted of murdering a man when she was a 16-year-old prostitute.

Newly elected Nashville Sen. Brenda Gilmore led a group Friday calling for 30-year-old Cyntoia Brown’s freedom.

Kim Kardashian West, Rihanna and other celebrities have supported Brown as she fights her life sentence for killing a man who had picked her up for sex. Her lawyers say she was a sex-trafficking victim afraid for her life.

Gilmore said it’s a travesty Brown must serve 51 years before she’s eligible for parole, as Tennessee’s Supreme Court recently said. Nashville Rep. John Ray Clemmons said the law should be changed for juveniles.