In the tangled weave of a story that defies the simple lines between right and wrong, a Milwaukee woman named Chrystul Kizer finds herself at the intersection of justice and despair. Her tale is not one of light, but rather a harrowing descent into the shadows where the law and human suffering collide. On a Monday that will be remembered for its weight, she was sentenced to 11 years behind bars after pleading guilty to a charge that had been softened from its original intent—a charge of reckless homicide.
Kizer’s story is not a straightforward one, nor is it easily untangled from the web of her reality. A Kenosha County judge handed down the sentence: 11 years of confinement, to be followed by 5 years of supervision—a future measured not in hope, but in years. The judge, in a decision heavy with implications, denied her the solace of early release programs, casting a long shadow over the years she will spend confined. The days she has already served—570 of them—were acknowledged, yet they do little to lighten the burden of the years still ahead.
🇺🇸El caso de Chrystul Kizer_
fue condenada a 11 años de prisión por matar a su abusador, en un acto que generó gran #controversia en #EE.UU. Kizer, que enfrentaba la posibilidad de cadena perpetua, cometió el crimen en 2018.
🎥FOX6 News Milwaukee pic.twitter.com/wD0l61Jk7a— Pulso Latam (@PulsoLatam) August 20, 2024
The events that led to this moment are steeped in the darkness of exploitation. In 2018, at the tender age of 17, Kizer met Randall Volar—a man whose name now carries the weight of unspeakable acts. She met him on a website that was no place for innocence, a site where those without protection are hunted. Over the year leading to his death, Volar allegedly stripped away her youth, piece by piece, selling her to those who sought to purchase what should never be for sale. Kizer’s defense was simple, yet profound: she killed him because he tried to touch her again. But the act of pulling the trigger did not end with Volar’s death—it continued in the fire she set to his house, in the theft of his car, and in the multiple charges that would later be stacked against her.
When Kizer pleaded guilty to second-degree reckless homicide in May, she sidestepped the life sentence that loomed like a specter over her trial. She avoided the full weight of the first-degree intentional homicide charge that once threatened to consume her future. But what she could not avoid was the narrative that had already begun to shape her destiny—a narrative of crime, desperation, and a law that seems to grapple with the limits of mercy.
Wisconsin woman sentenced for killing man who sex trafficked her when she was a minor https://t.co/ubCumZQeXF
— True Crime News (@MyTrueCrimeNews) August 20, 2024
Her lawyers argued a defense born of trauma and legislation—a 2008 Wisconsin law that was supposed to shield victims of sex trafficking from the consequences of crimes committed in the throes of their suffering. They claimed that Kizer’s actions were a direct result of the terror and exploitation she endured at Volar’s hands, that the law should protect her from the very charges that now define her. Yet, the prosecutors painted a different picture, one where the law’s protection could not, and should not, extend to the taking of a life.
This story, with its heavy undertones and layers of human suffering, drew the attention of anti-violence advocates who stood by Kizer, their voices filling the courtroom with a plea for understanding. They argued that the world often forces victims into corners so tight that escape seems impossible without violence, that sometimes, in the grip of fear and desperation, victims become their own saviors in ways the law does not easily comprehend. The Wisconsin Supreme Court, in a decision fraught with complexity, allowed Kizer to present this defense, acknowledging the deep, murky waters that swirl around her actions.
Milwaukee sex-trafficking victim Chrystul Kizer gets 11 years for killing her abuser pic.twitter.com/1LhHFqtbib
— Mixtape Trappers (@DjJerryNigga) August 20, 2024
And so, Chrystul Kizer’s fate was sealed, her path etched out by a system that wrestles with the dichotomy of justice and mercy. Her story is not a light one, but it is human—deeply, profoundly human. It speaks to the intersection of innocence lost and the fight for survival, of laws written in black and white that must contend with the infinite shades of gray in which real life unfolds.
More on this young lady
KENOSHA, Wis. — Chrystul Kizer has been sentenced to 16 years in prison including 11 years of initial confinement and five years of extended supervision for killing Randall Phillip Volar III, a then-34-year-old man who she accused of abusing and trafficking her and other underaged girls.
Earlier this year, Kizer pleaded guilty to second-degree reckless homicide — a felony that carried a maxiumum sentence of 25 years in prison. This case was unprecedented historically as it was the first instance of accused sex trafficking being used as an affirmative defense in a Wisconsin court case. – continue reading at WHM
Major Points
- Chrystul Kizer, sentenced to 11 years in prison, faced a complex legal battle rooted in her harrowing experiences.
- At 17, she encountered Randall Volar, who exploited her over the course of a year, leading to the tragic events of 2018.
- Kizer pleaded guilty to second-degree reckless homicide, avoiding a life sentence but still facing a bleak future.
- Her defense argued that Wisconsin’s 2008 law should protect her as a victim of sex trafficking, though the court’s decision was mixed.
- The case highlighted the deep struggles between justice, mercy, and the human cost of survival in extreme circumstances.
Lap Fu Ip – Reprinted with permission of Whatfinger News