On Monday, August 19, in Kenosha, 24-year-old Chrystul Kizer received an additional five years of state supervision following her guilty plea to reckless homicide in the death of 34-year-old Randall P. Volar in June 2018.
At the time of the incident, Kizer was 17 years old.
Kizer’s case has drawn national attention, with advocates for s*xual trafficking survivors rallying to support her and seeking to have the charges dropped.
During the sentencing, Kenosha County Judge David Wilk acknowledged the complexities of Kizer’s situation but emphasized that she could not take justice into her own hands.
“You are not permitted to be the instrument of his reckoning,” Judge Wilk said. “To allow that would endorse a descent into lawlessness and chaos.”
Kizer’s mother spoke about their difficult upbringing after relocating from Indiana to Milwaukee. In a written statement read to the court, Kizer, who was recently baptized in prison, quoted from the Bible, seeking leniency and expressing remorse for the pain caused to Volar’s family.
The defense, represented by Jennifer Bias, argued that Kizer’s troubled childhood and the trauma of trafficking, particularly affecting Black women, contributed to her actions. Bias highlighted that Volar had previously paid Kizer’s bail and used it to exploit her further.
However, Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Graveley disputed this claim, stating there was no electronic evidence to support it and suggesting Kizer acted out of a desire for notoriety and material gain.
Judge Wilk’s sentence included approximately a year and a half of credit for time served, reducing Kizer’s prison term to just under 10 years.
Kizer, initially charged with first-degree intentional homicide, had her case attract significant international attention over six years. Claudine O’Leary, an independent consultant for s*xual trafficking survivors, expressed disappointment with the sentencing and noted the lack of adequate support resources for trafficking survivors in the Wisconsin prison system.
O’Leary criticized the court’s response, suggesting it further erodes trust among trafficking survivors in the justice system. Kizer’s defense also noted that she was first trafficked at 16, using proceeds from an ad on a now-seized website to support her family.
Anti-violence groups defended Kizer, arguing that victims of trafficking often feel trapped and sometimes resort to extreme measures when they perceive no other options.
