US Woman Jailed For 11 Years For Killing Man Who Allegedly Sexually Trafficked Her

A 24-year-old woman in the United States has been sentenced to 11 years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree reckless homicide in the killing of a man who she said trafficked her as a teenager. According to CNN, Chrystul Kizer was sentenced on Monday. She will also serve five years of parole. She must submit a DNA sample to authorities and attend a restitution hearing later. "The 11 years is minus ... 570 days because she has served those awaiting trial," Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Graveley told the outlet. 

Ms Kizer shot 34-year-old Randall Volar at his Kenosha, Wisconsin, home in 2018 when she was 17 years old. She shot him in the head, burned his house down and stole his BMW. She was initially charged with multiple counts, including first-degree intentional homicide, arson, car theft and being a felon in possession of a firearm, per the outlet. 

Ms Kizer was 16 when she met Volar. She alleged that he had sexually abused her multiple times. The prosecutor's office also confirmed that it was working on a case against Volar at the time of his death. But prosecutors also said that Ms Kizer didn't give any indication at the time of the killing that she was trafficked by Volar. 

In a 2019 interview with The Washington Post, Ms Kizer said that in 2018 she went to Volar's house with a gun in her purse that she said her boyfriend gave her for protection. She alleged that while she was there, Volar gave her a drug and the two decided to watch a movie. They then began to fight after Volar began touching her and she refused to have sex with her, she alleged. 

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Ms Kizer also said that Volar pinned her before she shot him twice. She then set Volar's body on fire and fled in his car. "I just thought that I didn't want to do that stuff anymore because I was trying to change," she said.

Kenosha District Attorney Michael D. Graveley accused Ms Kizer of premeditated murder, alleging she planned to steal Volar's BMW. In 2022, she had a legal victory when the state Supreme Court upheld a ruling that she could argue she acted in self-defence under a state law that allows victims of trafficking to present "an affirmative defence for any offence committed as a direct result" of being trafficked. She was released from prison earlier this year on a $400,000 bond when she fled the state, violating the conditions of her bail. She was caught two weeks later in Louisiana and was returned to Wisconsin.