Wisconsin woman who claimed to legally kill sex trafficker is sentenced to 11 years in prison

KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) — A Milwaukee woman who said she was allowed to kill a man because he sexually trafficked her was sentenced to 11 years in prison Monday after pleading guilty to a lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter.

A Kenosha County judge sentenced Chrystul Kizer to 11 years in prison and then five years of extended probation in connection with the death of 34-year-old Randall Volar in 2018. She was given credit for 570 days of prison time already served, or about one and a half years.

The judge did not classify Kizer as eligible for participation in the Department of Corrections' early release programs; according to the Wisconsin State Public Defender's Office, she is expected to be released in 2033.

Kizer pleaded guilty to Volar's involuntary manslaughter in May, allowing her to avoid a trial and a possible life sentence.

Prosecutors said Kizer shot Volar in his Kenosha home in 2018 when she was 17. She then burned down his house and stole his BMW. Kizer was charged with several counts, including first-degree premeditated murder, arson, auto theft and illegal possession of a firearm.

Kizer, now 24, said she met Volar on a sex trafficking website. He sexually assaulted her and sold her as a prostitute in the year before his death, she said. She told investigators she shot him after he tried to touch her.

Her lawyers said Kizer cannot be held criminally liable because of a 2008 law that exonerates sex trafficking victims of “any crime committed as a direct result” of trafficking. Most states have passed similar laws in the past decade that give sex trafficking victims at least some level of criminal immunity.

Prosecutors countered that Wisconsin lawmakers could not possibly have intended the protections to extend to homicides. Anti-violence groups flocked to Kizer's defense, arguing in court briefs that victims of human trafficking feel trapped and sometimes feel they must take matters into their own hands. The state Supreme Court ruled in 2022 that Kizer can present his defense during the trial.