Wisconsin woman who argued she legally killed sex trafficker gets 11 years in prison

KENOSHA, Wisconsin — A Milwaukee woman who claimed she was legally allowed to kill a man because he sexually abused her was sentenced to 11 years in prison Monday after plead guilty to a reduced number of cases of reckless homicide.

A Kenosha County judge sentenced Chrystul Kizer to 11 years in prison followed by five years of extended supervision in the 2018 death of Randall Volar, 34. She was given 570 days’ credit for her sentence.

Kizer had pleaded guilty in May to second-degree manslaughter in connection with Volar’s death, avoiding trial and a possible life sentence.

Prosecutors said Kizer shot Volar in his Kenosha home in 2018, when she was 17, then set fire to his house and stole his BMW. Kizer was indicted on multiple charges, including first-degree murder, arson, grand theft auto and possession of a firearm by a felon.

Kizer, now 24, claimed she met Volar on a sex trafficking website. He had harassed her and sold her into prostitution in the year leading up to his death, she alleged. She told investigators she shot him after he tried to touch her.

Her lawyers argued that Kizer could not be held criminally liable for any of the cases under a 2008 state law that protects sex trafficking victims from “any offense committed as a direct result” of trafficking. Most states have passed similar laws in the past 10 years that provide sex trafficking victims with at least some degree of criminal immunity.

Prosecutors argued that Wisconsin lawmakers could not possibly have intended the protections to apply to murder. Anti-violence groups joined Kizer’s defense, arguing in court documents that trafficking victims feel trapped and sometimes feel they have to take matters into their own hands. The state Supreme Court ruled in 2022 that Kizer could lead the defense at trial.

Kizer’s lawyers did not immediately respond to telephone messages seeking comment on her sentence.