On Monday, Chrystul Kizer was sentenced to 11 years in prison for the 2018 shooting of Randall Volar, a 34-year-old white man from Kenosha, Wisconsin, who she claimed sexually trafficked her as a teenager. Throughout the case, Kizer has maintained that her actions were a result of self-defense in response to his abuse, according to CNN.

Kizer, who was 17 when she shot Volar in the head and burned down his home, was sentenced to 11 years in prison on Monday by a Kenosha judge and will be required to serve five years parole, according to County District Attorney Michael Graveley.

“The 11 years is minus … 570 days because she has served those awaiting trial,” Graveley added. 

Following the ruling’s headline coverage, many users on X (formerly Twitter) voiced concerns about perceived inconsistencies in the case. Some argued that Kizer should receive no jail time, as Kyle Rittenhouse did after his acquittal. Rittenhouse, who shot three people—two fatally—during the August 2020 protests in Kenosha following the police shooting of Jacob Blake, faced no prison time. Critics pointed out that Rittenhouse’s acquittal underscored a disparity in legal outcomes compared to Kizer’s case. Additionally, some speculated that racial factors might have influenced the differing verdicts.

Reason why I am uncomfortable around white people who don’t believe that white privilege exist. #justiceforchrystulKizer #chrystulkizer pic.twitter.com/Q9iilkdozE

— Evoni (@onlyevonii) August 19, 2024

Scott Walker judge David Wilk sentences sex trafficking victim Chrystul Kizer To 11 years in prison for killing her sex trafficker.

This is in Kenosha where white nationalist Kyle Rittenhouse was allowed to murder two people in cold blood and wound a third.

The difference? pic.twitter.com/Hvq98fK6WA

— scot ross (@rossacrosswi) August 20, 2024

 

What happened to Chrystul Kizer?

In February 2018, Volar was arrested on charges including child sexual assault but was released on bail. Despite evidence linking him to the abuse of about a dozen underage Black girls, he remained free for three months.

In June of that year, a then 17-year-old Kizer, who is Black, went to Volar’s house, allegedly shot him twice in the head, set his body on fire, and fled in his BMW. A few days later, she confessed, and District Attorney Michael Graveley, who had been aware of the evidence against Volar but delayed prosecution, charged her with arson and first-degree intentional homicide, which carries a mandatory life sentence in Wisconsin. Graveley contended that Kizer’s actions were premeditated, supported by text messages suggesting she intended to kill Volar to steal his BMW.

However, Kizer maintained that the shooting was in an act of self-defense, asserting that Volar pinned her to the floor after she refused his sexual advances. Her case parallels that of Cyntoia Brown, who was sentenced to life for killing a man who solicited her for sex when she was 16. Activists, a social media campaign, and clemency from then-Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam led to Brown’s release in August.

In 2022, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that a state law protecting trafficking victims from criminal liability for offenses committed as a direct result of their trafficking also applies to first-degree intentional homicide. Under the law, Kenosha court officials determined that Kizer’s defense team should be allowed to present evidence at trial showing that her charges stemmed directly from the violence she endured. 

The ruling enabled Kizer to argue that her actions were justified due to her trafficking situation. However, it also required her to first demonstrate to the trial judge that her decision to kill Volar was directly connected to her experiences as a trafficking victim before she could claim immunity. Notably, in May 2024, Kizer pleaded guilty to a reduced count of reckless homicide connected to the case.

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