Sara Kruzan, who served 18 years in prison after being convicted of killing her pimp at the age of 16, received one of  17 pardons granted by Governor Gavin Newsom on Friday, July 1.

Prosecutors argued Kruzan lured her former pimp, George Gilbert “G.G.” Howard, to the Dynasty Suites on Iowa Avenue in Riverside, shot him and stole his car and cash. She was arrested four days later and confessed.

At trial, she testified that a rival pimp forced her to kill Howard and that Howard had groomed her since she was 11 years old and repeatedly abused, sexually assaulted, and trafficked her.

She was tried as an adult and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for first-degree murder, plus a consecutive, four-year firearm enhancement in September 1995.

The case gained attention in recent years, especially on social media, where a video of Kruzan’s story went viral after being retweeted by actress Demi Moore.

Kruzan’s legal team fought for years to get a new trial arguing she should have been allowed to present a defense as a victim of “intimate partner battering” by Howard.

In 2010, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger commuted her sentence to 25 years to life. And in 2013, she was resentenced to 15 years to life for second-degree murder plus the four-year firearm enhancement, for a total term of 19 years to life after reaching an agreement with prosecutors.

She was released from prison at age 35.

Last year, a bill was introduced into Congress titled “Sara’s Law and the Preventing Unfair Sentencing Act of 2021” which, if signed into law, would allow federal courts to give juveniles who were convicted of a violent offense against a person who abused, trafficked, or assaulted them a below minimum sentence.

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