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Chrystul Kizer sentenced to eleven years in prison for murder of sex trafficker

Top line

Chrystul Kizer, a Wisconsin woman who shot and killed a man she allegedly lured into sex trafficking, was sentenced to 11 years in prison Monday, ending a six-year legal battle that brought attention to victims of sex trafficking.

Key data

According to Wisconsin court documents, Kizer was initially sentenced to 11 years in prison and then given five years probation.

In total, she is expected to serve less than 11 years in prison, as several media outlets reported that she was given credit for 570 days of time already served. This means that she is expected to serve approximately nine and a half years.

As the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported, Kizer pleaded guilty in May to involuntary manslaughter (a reduced charge) in connection with the 2018 death of Randall P. Volar.

She was 17 when Volar died and was initially charged with first-degree intentional murder, but to avoid a trial and a possible life sentence, she pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter.

Kizer's lawyers had argued that she could invoke an affirmative defense – a defense in which a defendant can present evidence that excludes liability even if he committed the alleged acts – and therefore be protected from prosecution. They argued that the man she killed had sex trafficked her and her actions resulted from his abuse.

Forbes has asked Kizer's lawyers for comment on the verdict.

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Important background

Kizer is said to have met Volar — who was 34 when she was 17 — about a year before his death after posting an ad on backpage.com, a sex work website. However, federal law prohibits buying or selling minors for sex. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, she said she first posted on the site “to get money for school supplies and snacks,” and she had to have another girl show her how to use the site. Volar responded to her ad and allegedly went out with her, giving her money, gifts and drugs in exchange for sex, the Washington Post reported, which would make him a buyer in the sex trafficking of minors. Kizer claimed Volar had been paying her for sex for months and filming the abuse. Kizer told investigators that when she killed him, she “got angry and was fed up with [him]

touching her,” so she shot him. After shooting him, Kizer burned the house down and fled in his BMW, court documents show. At the time of his death, her team argued that he had sexually abused her and sold her as a prostitute, the Associated Press reported, giving her an affirmative defense, although a judge rejected the use of the defense to protect against a murder charge. But in 2022, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that Kizer could use the affirmative defense argument in her case.

tangent

Months before Kizer, who is black, killed Volar, who was white, police had found evidence that he had sex with several underage black girls. He was arrested, charged and released without bail. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that he was being investigated for sexual conduct with girls who were as young as 12 at the time of his encounter with Kizer.

Large number

30 years. That was the maximum sentence Kizer faced after pleading guilty to second-degree manslaughter with the use of a dangerous weapon, the Washington Post reported.

More information

AP NewsWisconsin woman who claimed to legally kill sex trafficker is sentenced to 11 years in prison
Washington PostChrystul Kizer sentenced to eleven years in prison for killing her sex traffickerSentinel MagazineChrystul Kizer, charged with murder of her alleged sex trafficker, released from prison after groups raise $400,000 bail

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