Chrystul Kizer, who claimed she killed a human trafficker legally, was sentenced to 11 years in prison

KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) — A Milwaukee woman who claimed she had the precise to legally kill a man because he was sex trafficking her was sentenced Monday to 11 years in prison after confession of guilt to reduce the variety of unintentional homicides.

A Kenosha County judge sentenced Chrystul Kizer to 11 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release in reference to the 2018 death of 34-year-old Randall Volar. She was given credit for 570 days of sentence served.

In May, Kizer pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter in Volar’s death, allowing her to avoid trial and a possible life sentence.

Prosecutors said Kizer shot Volar in his Kenosha home in 2018 when she was 17, then burned down his house and stole his BMW. Kizer has been charged with multiple crimes, including first-degree intentional homicide, arson, automotive theft and possession of a firearm by a felon.

Kizer, now 24, claimed she met Volar on a human trafficking website. She alleged he molested her and sold her as a prostitute for a 12 months leading up to his death. She told detectives she shot him when he tried to touch her.

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Her lawyers argued that Kizer couldn’t be held criminally accountable for any of this under a 2008 state law that exempts trafficking victims from “any crime committed as a direct result” of being trafficked. Most states have passed similar laws in the past 10 years, providing trafficking victims with at the very least some level of criminal immunity.

Prosecutors have countered that Wisconsin lawmakers couldn’t have intended to extend the protection to murder. Anti-violence groups have come to Kizer’s defense, arguing in court briefs that victims of human trafficking feel trapped and sometimes feel they have to take matters into their very own hands. The state’s highest court ruled in 2022, Kizer could raise his defense at trial.

Kizer’s attorneys didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment on the decision.