Woman sentenced to 11 years in prison after arguing she was legally allowed to kill a man because he sexually trafficked her
Chrystul Kizer is pictured during a hearing in the Kenosha County Courthouse on November 15
By Amy Simonson, CNN
(CNN) — A Milwaukee woman who argued she was immune from prosecution because the man she fatally shot was sexually trafficking her was sentenced Monday to 11 years in prison, according to Kenosha County Court documents.
Chrystul Kizer – who earlier this year pleaded guilty to reckless homicide in the case – will also serve five years parole, Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Graveley told CNN in an email Monday. “The 11 years is minus … 570 days because she has served those awaiting trial,” said Graveley.
Kizer shot Randall Volar, 34, at his Kenosha, Wisconsin, home in 2018 when she was 17 years old, Kenosha County Court prosecutors said.
Kizer shot Volar in the head, burned his house down and stole his BMW, The Associated Press reported. She initially was charged with multiple counts, including first-degree intentional homicide, arson, car theft and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Kizer, who is Black, argued she was trafficked by Volar, who was White, beginning when she was 16.
Wisconsin’s Supreme Court ruled in 2022 a state law absolving trafficking victims of criminal liability for offenses committed as a direct result of being trafficked extends to first-degree intentional homicide.
The court ruled Kizer’s legal team should have the opportunity to present evidence at trial that the crimes she was charged with were “a direct result of the violence she experienced,” according to a statement from the Chicago Community Bond Fund.
The ruling allowed Kizer to argue she was justified in the killing. But it also said Kizer must first provide evidence for a trial judge her decision to kill Volar was connected to being trafficked before she could invoke immunity, the AP reported.
Kizer maintains Volar’s death was the result of self-defense, the bond fund said, but in May this year she pleaded guilty to a reduced count of reckless homicide, court documents state.
Kizer, 17 at the time, put a gun in her bookbag in June 2018 and traveled from Milwaukee to Volar’s home in Kenosha after telling her boyfriend she was going to shoot him because she was tired of him touching her, the AP reported, citing court documents.
CNN reached out to Kizer’s attorneys for comment.
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