Alexis Martin: Governor commutes sentence of sex trafficking survivor supported by Kim Kardashian West

Alexis Martin was serving 21 years to life behind bars

Clémence Michallon
Tuesday 21 April 2020 16:52 BST
Kim Kardashian West fronts documentary The Justice Project

The governor of Ohio has commuted the sentence of a woman previously imprisoned in relation to the fatal shooting of the man who allegedly forced her into sex work.

Governor Mike DeWine announced on Friday that he had granted seven commutation requests and denied 84.

Among the seven requests he approved is that of Alexis Martin, who was 15 at the time of the man’s 2013 slaying and 17 when she was incarcerated.

“She is a child sex trafficking survivor,” DeWine said during a press conference on Tuesday.

“She will be sent to an appropriate group home and she will be under supervision for an extensive period of time.

“The facts of her case are particularly, particularly unique.”

Back in August 2018, the Ohio Supreme Court upheld Martin’s conviction, which her legal team had disputed saying Martin should not have been charged as an adult.

Jennifer Kinsley, Martin’s lawyer, told The Associated Press that a 2012 Safe Harbor law in Ohio should have been applied, which could have resulted in Martin being appointed a guardian by the court.

But Martin’s case was treated in adult court, where she entered a guilty plea and was sentenced to 21 years to life in prison.

Martin was not accused of firing a weapon in the man’s shooting death. Rather, investigators alleged she had played a part in planning a robbery that devolved into the slaying.

Martin’s story was featured in Kim Kardashian West: The Justice Project, a documentary spotlighting cases of people Kardashian West believed to be wrongly incarcerated.

Kardashian West welcomed the news of Martin’s sentence commutation in a tweet reading: “Alexis Martin is a sex traffic survivor and I was honoured to be able to share her story on The Justice Project. Thank you Governor DeWine for commuting her sentence.”

The TV star has advocated for prison reform and is studying to become a lawyer.

She previously appealed for the release of Alice Marie Johnson, a grandmother who was serving a life sentence for a first-time, nonviolent drug offense.

Johnson was granted clemency in June 2018.​

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