On Monday, Chrystul Kizer was sentenced to 11 years in jail for the 2018 taking pictures of Randall Volar, a 34-year-old white man from Kenosha, Wisconsin, who she claimed sexually trafficked her as an adolescent. Throughout the case, Kizer has maintained that her actions have been a results of self-defense in response to his abuse, in line with CNN.

Kizer, who was 17 when she shot Volar within the head and burned down his residence, was sentenced to 11 years in jail on Monday by a Kenosha decide and will likely be required to serve 5 years parole, in line with 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 protection, many customers on X (previously Twitter) voiced considerations about perceived inconsistencies within the case. Some argued that Kizer ought to obtain no jail time, as Kyle Rittenhouse did after his acquittal. Rittenhouse, who shot three individuals—two fatally—in the course of the August 2020 protests in Kenosha following the police taking pictures of Jacob Blake, confronted no jail time. Critics identified that Rittenhouse’s acquittal underscored a disparity in authorized outcomes in comparison with Kizer’s case. Additionally, some speculated that racial components may need influenced the differing verdicts.

What occurred to Chrystul Kizer?

In February 2018, Volar was arrested on prices together with little one sexual assault however was launched on bail. Despite proof linking him to the abuse of a couple of dozen underage Black ladies, he remained free for 3 months.

In June of that yr, a then 17-year-old Kizer, who’s Black, went to Volar’s home, allegedly shot him twice within the head, set his physique on fireplace, and fled in his BMW. A number of days later, she confessed, and District Attorney Michael Graveley, who had been conscious of the proof towards Volar however delayed prosecution, charged her with arson and first-degree intentional murder, which carries a compulsory life sentence in Wisconsin. Graveley contended that Kizer’s actions have been premeditated, supported by textual content messages suggesting she supposed to kill Volar to steal his BMW.

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

In 2022, the Wisconsin Supreme Court dominated {that a} state legislation defending trafficking victims from legal legal responsibility for offenses dedicated as a direct results of their trafficking additionally applies to first-degree intentional murder. Under the legislation, Kenosha court docket officers decided that Kizer’s protection crew must be allowed to current proof at trial displaying that her prices stemmed immediately from the violence she endured. 

The ruling enabled Kizer to argue that her actions have been justified because of her trafficking state of affairs. However, it additionally required her to first reveal to the trial decide that her choice to kill Volar was immediately related to her experiences as a trafficking sufferer earlier than she may declare immunity. Notably, in May 2024, Kizer pleaded responsible to a decreased depend of reckless murder related to the case.

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