Black Teen Incarcerated For Murdering Her Sex Abuser Is Released After 2 Years When Activists Covered Her Bail

Oxygen

A teenage girl that was looking at the possibility of life in prison for murdering her sex trafficker was finally freed on bail from the Kenosha County Jail in Wisconsin when activists and community organizers raised enough bail to free her.

17-year-old black woman Chrystul Kizer was accused of first-degree intentional homicide when she allegedly shot and killed 34-year-old white man Randall P. Vollar III and set his home on fire, right before fleeing the scene with his BMW back in 2018.


This case caught national attention, including those of celebrities and high-profile figures because Kizer is seen as a survivor of rape and sex trafficking, who is being prosecuted as a criminal when she merely acted in self-defense when she killed her abuser.

Now 19-years-old, Kizer is facing first-degree intentional homicide and arson which is a life sentence in the state of Wisconsin. She claimed she met her abuser, Volar in 2017 when she was only 16-years-old. Ever since then, he regularly sexually abused her for over a year, while bribing her with money and gifts.

Washington Post

Courts also have proof that Volar was not only abusing Kizer, but other underage Black girls at the same time. Police and prosecutors hold video evidence of the abuse, including one of him sexually abusing another girl who appeared as young as 12. Despite all this evidence against him, he was still allowed free during the time of investigation.

Kizer also accused Volar of prostituting her online to other men in a website that was shut down in 2018 because of child sex trafficking.

Kizer admitted to Washington Post last year that she shot Volar twice in the head when he was attempting to pin her to the floor to rape her.

After being incarcerated for two years and awaiting trial, the Chicago Community Bond Fund, Chrystul Kizer Defense Committee, Survived & Punished and the Milwaukee Freedom Fund all pooled their resources together and paid $400,000 bail money just this month to set her free. Bail was previously set at $1 million until it was lowered this year. She still however faces a trial in the future.

Today, we worked with the @FreeChrystul Defense Committee & the Milwaukee Freedom Fund to pay her $400,000 bond. https://t.co/L4XMROx2by

— Chicago Community Bond Fund (@ChiBondFund) June 22, 2020

At the moment, Kizer is awaiting a decision from the appeals court that will determine if she is qualified to the state’s affirmative defense law which will allow her the right to argue that the reason for her crime comes from the trafficking and abuse she suffered these last few years.

New York Post

Micheal Gravely, District Attorney in Kenosha County is the lead prosecutor in Kizer’s case. He argues that the murder of Volar was a calculated act. According to Gravely, there is proof that Kizer downloaded a police scanner app mere minutes before shooting Volar in his home. The attorney has offered her a plea deal that would only sentence her up to 21 years on downgraded charges of felony murder and jumping bail. He also promised not to be influenced by the public’s opinion regarding this popular case.

The Chicago Community Bond Fund issued a statement saying:

“Far too often, survivors of violence—especially Black women and girls—are punished for defending themselves. Chrystul’s case highlights the urgent need for the criminal legal system to stop prosecuting survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. The police and government systems set up to protect Chrystul failed her. Instead of being given care and support from the beginning, she has been wrongfully incarcerated for nearly two years now for choosing to survive.”

The Chicago Community Bond Fund also mentioned that once Kizer’s case ends, the four organizations will use the majority of the returned bail money to put up a national bail fund for incarcerated survivors of sexual and domestic abuse. This fund will be under Survived & Punished and housed at the National Bail Fund Network.


Survived & Punished is comprised of a national coalition of survivors, victim advocates, organizers, attorneys, legal advocates, policy experts, scholars and current and former incarcerated victims.

Another percentage of the money will be donated to the Milwaukee Freedom Fund, also to be used for bail, while Chrystul Kizer’s Defense Committee is receiving donations in order to help fund her legal and living expenses, apart from other costs like care and treatment.

“This traumatized child, Chrystul Kizer, enticed and abused repeatedly by Randy Volar, will continue to suffer for the rest of her life. While Chrystul will never be able to erase what Mr. Volar did to her, she now has a fighting chance to assist in the preparation of her defense to these very serious charges from outside of a jail cell,” said Jennifer Bias, Trial Division Director at the Office of the State Public Defender.

 

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