Placed into adoption as a child, Ms. Brown, now 31, ran away from her adoptive family at 16 and lived in a motel with a pimp who raped her and forced her into prostitution, according to court documents.

In 2004, Johnny M. Allen, 43, a real estate broker, picked up Ms. Brown at a Nashville restaurant and drove her to his home after she agreed to engage in sexual activity for $150, the documents say.

Ms. Brown testified that, at one point when they were in his bedroom, she thought he was reaching for a gun to kill her. She shot him in his sleep with a handgun that had been in her purse, took money and two guns and fled, according to the documents.

She was arrested and tried as an adult on charges of first-degree murder and aggravated robbery. In 2006, Ms. Brown was convicted by a Davidson County jury of those charges and sentenced to life in prison. She would not have been eligible for parole until 2055.

When Mr. Haslam granted her clemency, he set her release for Aug. 7, which commuted her sentence to 15 years from the date she was arrested.