Brown, whose case attracted national attention, will be released to supervised parole Aug. 7, after serving 15 years in prison, said Haslam, who will leave office later this month.
“Cyntoia Brown committed, by her own admission, a horrific crime at the age of 16,” Haslam said. “Yet, 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.”
“Transformation should be accompanied by hope,” he said. “So, I am commuting Ms. Brown’s sentence, subject to certain conditions.”
Brown “lit up” with joy Monday when she heard the news from Charles W. Bone, one of her lawyers, who blurted out immediately when he saw her: “You are getting out in August.”
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In a statement, Brown thanked the governor “for your act of mercy in giving me a second chance. I will do everything I can to justify your faith in me.”
She also thanked officials in the Department of Corrections who helped her get an education and “saw something in me worth salvaging.”
Bone, at a news conference given by Brown’s lawyers and advocates, said that he was looking forward to the day he could “see her walk out of prison.”
“She deserves this, and deserves the full credit for it,” Bone said.
Activists and lawyers who had supported Brown said that her case reflected the need for criminal justice reforms, particularly in cases of juvenile offenders who have been traumatized and can be rehabilitated.
J. Houston Gordon, one of her lawyers, said her case should be seen as a “clarion call” against what he described as draconian laws that put children in prison. “We need to see this as a national awakening,” he said.
Brown’s story attracted widespread attention and support from celebrities, including Rihanna and Kim Kardashian West. Lawmakers and rights activists highlighted the years of abuse and forced prostitution that she endured in her youth and lobbied the governor to grant her clemency before his term was up.
Brown’s mother, who abused drugs and alcohol, placed her for adoption as a child, according to court documents. At 16, Brown ran away from her adoptive family and started to live in a motel with a pimp who raped her and forced her to become a prostitute.
In 2004, Johnny M. Allen, 43, a real estate broker, picked up Brown at a restaurant in Nashville, Tennessee, and drove her to his home, after she agreed to engage in sexual activity for $150, court documents say.
After they got into bed, Brown said she thought he was reaching for a gun to kill her. She later shot him in his sleep with a handgun from her purse, took money and two guns, and fled, documents say.
Brown, tried as an adult, was convicted by a Davidson County jury in 2006 of first-degree murder and aggravated robbery. She was sentenced to life in prison and would not have been eligible for parole until 2055.
Instead, she will be released exactly 15 years after her arrest. Brown will then be under supervised parole for 10 more years, until Aug. 7, 2029.
Haslam said in his statement that Brown earned her high school equivalency diploma and an associate degree with a 4.0 GPA while imprisoned. She is continuing her education, the statement said, and is expected to earn a bachelor’s degree in May.
“Numerous Department of Correction employees and volunteers attest to her extraordinary personal transformation while incarcerated,” Haslam said, “which will allow her to be a positive influence on the community upon release.”
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.