Netflix has acquired the rights to an upcoming documentary on Cyntoia Brown. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the unnamed project follows Brown’s battle for clemency, and includes her prison release next month.
The film is directed by Daniel H. Birman, executive producer of the 2011 PBS documentary Me Facing Life: Cyntoia’s Story.
Brown, 31, has spent more than a decade behind bars after being convicted of first-degree murder in the death of Johnny Michael Allen. The Tennessee native was 16 years old at the time of her encounter with Allen, who solicited sex from her. Despite being a minor at the time, Brown was tried as an adult and sentenced to 51 years to life.
While in prison, Brown has earned her high school diploma with a 4.0 GPA, and recently finished up a bachelor’s degree.
Brown’s case has helped shed light on the need for reform in the juvenile criminal justice system. In Tennessee, at least 128 inmates are currently serving life sentences without the possibility of parole, some for crimes committed when the offenders were as young as 14 years old, The New York Times reports.
In January, Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam granted Brown clemency. She is scheduled to be released on Aug. 7, 2019.