Starz is developing a limited series based on the life of Cyntoia Brown-Long, who was sex trafficked, convicted of murder as a teenager, and years later granted clemency in 2019.
The scripted series titled The Case of Cyntoia Brown is executive produced by Power universe talent Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson and La La Anthony, a longtime supporter of Brown-Long. Anthony brought the project to 50 Cent’s G-Unit Film & Television.
Related Story: Cyntoia Brown Released From Prison After 15 Years
Santa Sierra (Power Book III: Raising Kanan, Narcos) is writing the series and will serve as a co-executive producer. Brown-Long and her husband Jamie Long are on board as consultants.
“We’re honored to be entrusted with Cyntoia’s story, which shines a light on the injustice of a system that tried and sentenced an at-risk minor as an adult when she was a victim herself of sex trafficking,” Christina Davis, president of original programming for Starz, said in a statement Friday.
Based on Brown-Long’s book “Free Cyntoia: My Search for Redemption in the American Prison System,” the project tells the story of how she was sex trafficked by a boyfriend, tried as an adult at 16 years old and sentenced to life in prison for aggravated robbery and first-degree murder.
Despite being a minor, the sentence required her to serve at least 51 years before becoming eligible for parole.
For years, Brown-Long maintained that the 2004 killing was an act of self-defense. Criminal justice reform advocates called for her release, including Anthony, LeBron James, Kim Kardashian West and Rihanna.
The Tennessee Department of Corrections announced her release on Wednesday, August 07, 2019.
“Cyntoia Denise Brown was released from the Tennessee Prison for Women. Former Governor Bill Haslam commuted the sentence of Brown on January 7, 2019,” the department said in a news release.
While incarcerated, Brown-Long earned her associates and bachelor’s degrees. She was granted clemency and released in 2019 and now advocates for criminal justice reform and for victims of trafficking.
The limited series on her life falls under Starz’s recently launched #TakeTheLead initiative, to increase the network’s commitment to narratives by, about and for women and underrepresented audiences.
