Woman faces life sentence after killing her abuser

Chrystul Kizer, 19, is facing life in prison for killing Randy Volar, a man who allegedly raped her and sold her for sex according to the Washington Post. On the night of June 5, 2018, Kizer shot Volar twice in the head in his Kenosha, Wisconsin. She then set his body on fire and fled the scene using Volar’s BMW.

Kizer was 16 when she met Volar, 33 at the time, that was in 2016. She was one of about a dozen victims Volar sexually abused while filming his actions.

The state of Wisconsin has a law that can potentially acquit defendants of certain charges if they can prove that they committed crimes because they were being trafficked. Her lawyers attempted to use this law calling it “affirmative defence.” The judge overruled its use in the case however citing the fact that the murder was premeditated. This was based on a Facebook post by Kizer hours before the murder in which she posted a selfie with the caption, “my mugshot.” The prosecutor also used private text messages Kizer had sent out to friends prior to the body being found.

Volar had been arrested on charges of child enticement, second-degree sexual assault of a child and using a computer to facilitate a child sex crime only four months prior to the murder. Volar was mysteriously released the day after his arrest, inexplicably without bail and remained living a free man until the night of his murder. The same District Attorney Micheal Graveley, whose office was aware of the evidence against Volar and chose to hold off on prosecuting him is the same D.A. responsible for charging Chrytsul.

Graveley is charging Chrystul with first-degree intentional homicide and homicide.

Kizer, who is now 19 has maintained that she did not go to Volar’s home that night intending to kill him. She says she acted in self-defence after Volar drugged and attempted to have sex with her.

Police located the BMW that belonged to Volar in Milwaukee a few hours after the murder and managed to connect it with Chrystul. Inside the home of Volar was photo and video evidence that Chrystul was in fact one of his victims.

The pair had initially met via Backpage.com a website for prostitution. The site had been the country’s largest of its kind before being shut down last year for facilitation of human trafficking.

Chrystul told police that Volar also sold her through Backpage.com and would drive her to various hotel rooms for meet-ups, keeping the earnings of those interactions for himself. Over time Volar became more and more demanding and when Chrystul attempted to put distance between them, Volar threatened her with violence and even murder.

Chrystul’s boyfriend, Nelson gave her a .380 pistol to protect herself and taught her how to use it. Upon later having a fight with Nelson herself, she asked Volar if she could come to his house. Chrystul had the pistol with her for the trip.

Police found computers and electronics with videos and photos of Volar having sex with girls who appeared to be as young as 12. They also found a bank account with $1.5 million in transfers, something police consistently find in cases to do with sex trafficking.

Wisconsin’s version of the ‘affirmative defence’ law aims to protect victims of sex trafficking but is vague and doesn’t specify which crimes exactly the defence could use it for. Cases involving homicide have yet to be used.

The prosecution argued however that the affirmative defence cannot be applied in this particular case because the murder was premeditated. The judge has concurred with the prosecution.

Chrystul’s lawyer plans to appeal the ruling.