Why celebs are sharing the story of Cyntoia Brown?
Rihanna and Kim Kardashian have thrown their support behind the case of an abuse victim who killed a man who'd paid to have sex with her.
Cyntoia Brown was jailed for life for murder after she shot Johnny Michael Allen dead when she was 16.
Now 29, she's been in prison for the last 13 years and won't be eligible for release until she's in her 60s.
How does a girl's life get wrecked to this degree before she's even old enough to vote? And when a childhood has been blighted by horrendous abuse, what bearing should that have when the victim commits a grievous, irreversible crime?
These are the debates playing out on social media, since reality star Kim Kardashian West, singer Rihanna and supermodel Cara Delevigne all shared emotional posts under the hashtag #FreeCyntoiaBrown.
Twitter isn't ideal for conveying the complexity of this case. But that didn't stop Kardashian West's pro-Cyntoia summary garnering 500,000 likes.
"The system has failed," she tweeted. "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. #FreeCyntoiaBrown.”
Singer Rihanna, the force behind 230 million record sales, was similarly moved. "To each of you responsible for this child's sentence, I hope to God you don't have children," she wrote on Instagram.
As a teen, Cyntoia was sexually abused by a pimp called "cut throat" who sent her out on the streets to earn him money.
In August 2004, she was picked up by Johnny Michael Allen and went back to his house in Tennessee.
During her trial, she told the court she feared he was going to hurt her, so she grabbed a gun and shot him.
Cyntoia was tried as an adult and jailed for life with no parole for 51 years. She's been in Tennessee Prison for Women since 2006.
Cyntoia Brown was sentenced to life in prison in 2004 for shooting dead Johnny Allen, a 43-year-old Nashville estate agent who picked her up for sex.
The teenager who went home with Mr Allen that night had been repeatedly raped and beaten. She was on the streets by order of her boyfriend, described as a violent, drug-addled pimp named "Kutthroat", who she said verbally abused her and made her strip at gunpoint.
The client who would become Cyntoia's victim showed her his gun collection, telling her he was a former Army sharpshooter. It made her nervous, she noted later.
Cyntoia ate dinner with him, watched some TV, and got into his bed. "He grabbed me in-between my legs - he just grabbed it real hard," she told the trial court. "I'm thinking he's going to hit me or do something like it...
Then Allen turned over and reached to the side of the bed. Cyntoia said she panicked, thinking he was reaching for a gun. Convinced she was about to die, she said, she shot him in the head with a .40-calibre handgun that Kutthroat had given her.
Cyntoia was tried as an adult, and pleaded self-defence. Prosecutors argued that she killed Allen to rob him, because she fled with his wallet and guns. The jury found her guilty of first-degree premeditated murder, first-degree felony murder, and aggravated robbery.
Now in her late 20s, she will first be eligible for parole at 67.
After her case the laws were changed in Tennessee, which meant children can no longer be charged with prostitution.
The case has already changed the law in Tennessee, which now recognises that there is no such thing as a child prostitute. If she stood trial today, Cyntoia would be treated as a victim of sex trafficking. Instead, she's in prison serving life as a sex worker who murdered her client.
Though some feel she earned her jail time, supporters are hoping the sudden surge in publicity will prompt a review of Cyntoia Brown's situation.
At time of writing, a petition seeking a presidential pardon for her has attracted over 186,000 signatures.
“She was a very dangerous person. She's pretty and smart and articulate so people have decided to take up her cause. Let's not forget her crime”
Jeff Burks, the Assistant District Attorney who successfully jailed Brown, has previously warned that being young and likeable should not exonerate her.
"She wasn't just somebody who made one mistake," he said. "She was a very dangerous person. The choices she made were hers. She's pretty and smart and articulate so people have decided to take up her cause. Let's not forget her crime."
Jeff Burks, the Assistant District Attorney who successfully jailed Brown, has previously warned that being young and likeable should not exonerate her
"She wasn't just somebody who made one mistake," he said. "She was a very dangerous person. The choices she made were hers. She's pretty and smart and articulate so people have decided to take up her cause. Let's not forget her crime.
Mr Brown recently wrote to Fox 17 News: "She was not 'trafficked' nor was she a 'sex slave.' It's not fair to the victim and his family that the other side of this case is so seldom heard.