August 19th 2024.
A woman from Milwaukee, Chrystul Kizer, was recently sentenced to 11 years in prison for fatally shooting a man who she claimed was sexually trafficking her. According to documents from Kenosha County Court, Kizer had pleaded guilty to reckless homicide earlier this year and will also serve five years of parole, as confirmed by Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Graveley in an email to CNN on Monday. However, the 11-year sentence is reduced by 570 days, which Kizer has already served while awaiting trial, Graveley explained.
The incident occurred in 2018 when Kizer, who was only 17 years old at the time, shot 34-year-old Randall Volar at his home in Kenosha, Wisconsin. As reported by The Associated Press, Kizer shot Volar in the head, set his house on fire, and stole his BMW. She was initially charged with various crimes, including first-degree intentional homicide, arson, car theft, and possession of a firearm as a felon.
Kizer, who is Black, argued that she was a victim of trafficking by Volar, who was White, starting when she was 16 years old. In 2022, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that a state law protecting trafficking victims from criminal liability for acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked also applies to first-degree intentional homicide. This ruling gave Kizer's legal team the chance to present evidence in court that her actions were a direct result of the abuse she endured.
The court's decision allowed Kizer to argue that she acted in self-defense, but it also stated that she must provide evidence to the trial judge that her decision to kill Volar was linked to the trafficking she experienced before she can claim immunity. According to a statement from the Chicago Community Bond Fund, the ruling gave Kizer the opportunity to justify her actions, but she ultimately pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of reckless homicide in May of this year, as stated in court documents.
Before the shooting, Kizer had put a gun in her bookbag and travelled from Milwaukee to Volar's home in Kenosha. She had told her boyfriend that she was going to shoot Volar because she was tired of him touching her, as reported by the AP, citing court documents. CNN reached out to Kizer's lawyers for comment, but they have not yet responded.
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