Cyntoia Brown killed a man who hired her as a sex worker when she was 16. On August 7, 2004, Brown said she shot 43-year-old Johnny Allen because she thought he was reaching for a gun and that she was acting in self-defense. As a minor, she was sentenced to life in prison In 2017, Brown's story went viral on social media. Celebrities like Rihanna and Kim Kardashian reposted a version of Brown's story on their feeds, read by millions of people.