Kim Kardashian hires lawyer to help free jailed woman who killed her abuser

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.

Then 16-year-old Brown was sex trafficked by a pimp named Kutthroat who was physically, sexually and verbally abusive and eventually sold her to 43-year-old Nashville realtor Johnny Allen, a court heard during her trial in 2004.

Brown, who feared that former Army sharp shooter Allen planned to kill her, eventually grabbed one of her captor’s guns and killed him, Fox 17 reports.

But when the case came to court, she was sentenced to life in prison. She won’t be eligible for parole for at least 51 years.

The case is getting new attention after a tweet showing Brown in court with the hashtag #FreeCyntoiaBrown, went viral on Monday.

Celebrities beyond Kardashian began using their fame to call for Justice for Brown.

Kim 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.

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,”