Netflix Releases Trailer For Cyntoia Brown Documentary

Netflix has dropped the trailer for new documentary Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story.

The six-part series, which will be available from 29 April, looks into the famous case of Cyntoia Brown after it got the attention of celebrities in 2017.

As you hear in the trailer, the hashtag #FreeCytnoiaBrown went viral after the likes of Rihanna and Lana Del Rey got behind the cause to get Brown released from prison, 15 years after she was sentenced to life.

In a clip from the documentary, Ms Brown tells a courtroom: "When I was 16 I did a horrible thing. I do pray that you show me mercy and that you give me a second chance."

Netflix

If you've not heard much about the case and want to wait for the documentary to find out, maybe look away now - although the new series will go into the case in more detail than ever before, looking at the reasons why the outcome might have been different if it had happened today.

The official synopsis reads: "After 16-year-old Cyntoia Brown is sentenced to life in prison, questions about her past, physiology and the law itself call her guilt into question."

Ms Brown was given her life sentence at the age of just 16, after she killed the man who had bought her for sex when she was a young teenager.

Netflix

Although she was underage when she actually committed the crime, she was sentenced as an adult, getting the steep sentence.

Prosecutors at the time argued that Brown shot 43-year-old Johnny Mitchell Allen, while he slept before stealing his wallet. Brown, however, testified that she shot Mitchell Allen in self-defence, saying she though he was reaching for a gun.

She said she took his wallet so she didn't return empty-handed to her pimp and alleged sex trafficker, who went by the name 'Kut-Throat'.

After spending more than a decade behind bars, she was released in August 2019 under parole supervision - much to the delight of her celebrity supporters, which also includes Kim Kardashian-West.

According to reports at the time, her sentence originally required her to serve at least 51 years in prison before she was eligible for parole.

Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story will be available to stream on Netflix from Wednesday 29 April.

Topics: Netflix

Amelia Ward

Amelia is a journalist at LADbible. After studying journalism at Liverpool John Moores and Salford Uni (don't ask), she went into PR and then the world of music. After a few years working on festivals and events, she went back to her roots. In her spare time, Amelia likes music, Liverpool FC, and spending good, quality time with her cat, Paul. You can contact Amelia at [email protected].

@ameliasward