Lifetime is ramping up production on The Michelle Knight Story.Â
The Michelle Knight Story is a original movie about the ordeal of the 21-year-old Ohio single mom who became the first victim of kidnapper Ariel Castro.
According to Deadline, Lifetime is has started casting lead roles in the upcoming Lifetime Original movie.
Major Crimes‘ Raymond Cruz has been cast as Castro in the movie, from Sony Pictures TV, which has received a formal greenlight. Written by Stephen Tolkin, The Michelle Knight Story explores the true story of Knight, whose life was forever changed by a chance encounter with Castro who abducted her on August 22, 2002, in Cleveland and held her as his prisoner in his home for more than 11 years.
From 2002 to 2004, Ariel Castro kidnapped three young women and held them prisoner in the Tremont neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio. Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry, and Georgina “Gina” DeJesusu were held against their will in his house until May 6, 2013 when Berry escaped with her six year old daughter and contacted the police. Knight and DeJesus were rescued by responding officers.
On May 8, 2013 Castro was charged with four counts of kidnapping and three counts of rape. Castro pled guilty to all 937 counts of rape, kidnapping and aggravated murder as part of a plea bargain. He was later sentenced to life in prison without the chance of parole plus another 1,000 years. One month into his sentence, Castro committed suicide by hanging himself with bedsheets in his prison cell.
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