Cyntoia Brown came home after spending 15 years in prison for killing a man to a brand new life of freedom—and a new husband.
Tennessee prison officials confirm that Brown got married while still behind bars to Christian rapper J. Long, the Tennessean reports.
Not surprisingly, theirs was no conventional ceremony. The bride was married by proxy, meaning that someone stood in for her at the nuptials that took place over the telephone before she was released from prison last week.
As the news site explains:
Under Tennessee law, incarcerated people can apply for a marriage license to wed by proxy, which allows the parties to be legally married without having to be in the same room or sign a marriage certificate at the same time.
A proxy in this situation is another person legally designated to represent another person — someone else was able to act as Brown’s legal stand-in.
J. Long shared the happy news on his Instagram page over the weekend, with a series of pics that combined to show a very happy couple:
A publicist for Cyntoia Brown, now known as Brown-Long, also confirmed the marriage, according to the New York Daily News, but declined to provide any other details.
So, it’s not known how the couple met or for how long they were dating before tying the knot.
However, the publicist, Wes Yoder, tells the Tennessean, they’ll eventually spill all.
“They will tell the rest of their story later this fall,” Yoder told the site, which noted that Brown-Long’s memoir, Free Cyntoia: My Search for Redemption in the American Prison System, is to be published Oct 15.
Brown-Long was granted clemency after being imprisoned for 15 years of a life sentence imposed after the then-16-year-old was convicted of murdering a 43-year-old Nashville, Tenn., man who had paid to have sex with her.
Brown-Long, who told authorities she’d been forced into sex work and was a victim of child sex trafficking, said she was in fear for her life after seeing the man, real estate agent Johnny Allen, reach for what she thought was a weapon. Prosecutors argued she was trying to rob Allen.
Her youth, status of having been sex trafficked, and the lengthiness of her sentence attracted the attention of numerous supporters, including celebrities like Rihanna, who advocated for her release.
Now, she’s home—and married, to boot.