What do we know about Chrystul Kizer?

Chrystul Kizer, a Black girl, is the murder accused of 34-year-old White man Randall Phillip Volar III who had abused and trafficked Kizer and other underage Black girls in Kenosha, Wisconsin. She was arrested in 2018 for the murder when she was only 17 years old.

When Chrystul Kizer shot Volar twice in the head, set his house on fire and fled in his BMW, she was 17. The case drew global attention to the issue of sex trafficking, especially against Black girls. Volar was White and Kizer is Black.

Kizer’s bail was set at $1 million originally but in February 2020, Judge David Wilk lowered Kizer’s bail to $400,000.

Kizer paid the bail money with community donations and was released on June 22, 2020, after spending nearly two years in jail.

Chrystul Kizer may face a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison as on May 9, 2024, she pled guilty to one felony count of second-degree reckless homicide.

On August 19, Kizer was sentenced to 11 years in prison and five years of extended supervision as she pled guilty to killing Volar who sexually abused her when she was a minor.

She will get credit for about a year and a half as part of that sentence as she already spent the years behind bars.

The verdict was delivered in the presence of Kizer, now 24, at Judge David Wilk in Kenosha County Circuit Court Monday morning.

Wisconsin’s Supreme Court in 2022 ruled as part of her defence, Kizer’s lawyers could use a 2008 state law that shields trafficking victims from being prosecuted for crimes committed as a “direct result” of having been trafficked.

What happened with Chrystul Kizer?

16-year-old Black girl Chrystul Kizer met 33-year-old White man Randall P. Volar III in Kenosha, Wisconsin in 2017. Volar abused and trafficked some underage Black girls including Kizer.

A 15-year-old girl, in February 2018, called police from Volar’s home saying that Volar had drugged her and was going to kill her. However, police later found the girl wandering the streets half-naked under the influence of LSD.

Following a search of Volar’s home, police found evidence of child sex abuse. They also found hundreds of videotapes of Volar abusing Kizer and other underage Black girls.

The law enforcers arrested Volar on February 22 for child inducement, second-degree sexual assault of a child, and using a computer for child-sex crime facilitation.

However, without bail, Volar was released on the same day. before submitting the case to prosecutors, police waited three months. On June 5, Volar was shot and killed while still free on bail.