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A Wisconsin woman who killed a man she claims sexually assaulted her when she was a teenager has been sentenced to 11 years behind bars.
Chrystul Kizer, who is now 23 years old, will spend 11 years in prison and another five years on extended supervision, for the fatal shooting of Randall P. Volar, according to WTMJ.
Kenosha County Circuit Court Judge David P. Wilk handed down the sentence on Monday.
Kizer was just 17 years old when she shot and killed Volar in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in June 2018. She was initially charged with first-degree intentional homicide, but later pleaded guilty second-degree reckless homicide, which spared her a trial and possible life sentence. Prosecutors dismissed all the other charges.
Prosecutors say Kizer planned to kill Volar because she wanted to steal his BMW. But her attorneys argue that she acted in self defense after suffering years of sexual abuse at Volar’s hands.
Kizer says she was sexually assaulted by Volar who sold her to others for sex. According to court documents, Kizer put a gun in her bookbag in June 2018 and told her boyfriend that she was going to shoot Volar because she was tired of him touching her.
She traveled from Milwaukee to Volar’s home in Kenosha, shot him in the head, burned down his house and stole his BMW, according to court documents.
Kizer was 17 at the time, old enough to be considered an adult in Wisconsin’s criminal justice system.
In 2022, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that Kizer could use self-defense at trial to justify the killing as part of a state law that grants sex trafficking victims immunity for any offense committed while they were being trafficked. But that won’t happen now that she’s accepted the plea deal.
Nearly 40 states have passed laws that give trafficking victims at least some level of criminal immunity, according to Legal Action of Wisconsin, which provides legal help for low-income people.
At the time of his death, Volar was under investigation for abusing multiple underage Black girls. Authorities found videos of the alleged abuse and brought charges against him before he was released on bail.
Kizer was released on $400,000 bail in June 2020 after community activists banded together to raise the funds.
