September Issue AAG

LEAH CARROLL
JANUARY 8, 2019, 10:28 AM
AThe fir st r epor ts of the m ur der wer e br eathless and scandalized: In the ear ly m or ning hour s of June 5,
2018, Randall P. Volar III, a 34-year -old m an fr om Kenosha, W isconsin was shot and k illed, his hom e set
ablaze. The culpr it? A 17-year -old M ilwauk ee gir l nam ed Chr ystul Kizer who'd allegedly snapped a selfie
of her self in the m ur der ed m an's hom e, and posted it on social m edia, br agging about shooting a "white
dude."
Kizer was char ged with fir st degr ee m ur der ,
ar son, and being a
felon in possession of a
fir ear m . H er bail was
set at $1 m illion.
If You Care About
But the stor y that m ade for good headlines
? the out of contr ol Cynt oia Brow n, You teen k illing a m an and
tak ing a joyr ide in his
BM W ? would tur n out
to be a lot m or e com plicated. In October ,
Kizer 's public Should Know Chryst ul defender s intr oduced a
m otion that would r equir e the state to tur n
over evidence that, at Kizer 's Nam e
the tim e of his k illing,
Volar was under active investigation by
the Kenosha Police Depar tm ent for sexual conduct with under age gir ls.
?The defense believes that the discover y in this case suggests that M s. Kizer acted in self-defense. M r.
Volar , a 34-year -old m an, was engaged in the ongoing sexual and physical abuse of M s. Kizer , then a
17-year -old gir l, and sever al other gir ls whose identities ar e cur r ently unk nown to the defense," r eads the
statem ent pr esented to Judge David W ilk .Kizer 's attor neys
contend that Volar tr anspor ted her fr om M ilwauk ee to engage
in sexual contact with her.
W hen she r esisted, they str uggled, and Kizer shot him . Kizer 's
boyfr iend pr eviously told detectives that he'd given his
gir lfr iend a handgun because she was ?tir ed of the dude
touching on her."
The com plaint fur ther states that while under investigation, in
the m onths befor e his m ur der , Kenosha police had evidence
"that M r. Volar was pr oducing child por nogr aphy" and that
"the Kenosha Police had been aler ted by TCF Bank , a financial
institution utilized by M r. Volar , that M r. Volar ?s account had
been flagged under suspicion of being involved in hum an or
sex tr affick ing.?
Kizer 's attor ney, Car l Johnson, declined to com m ent on her case to Refiner y29 but did confir m that she is
next set to appear in cour t on Januar y 10, wher e a decision m ay be m ade about whether or not the
evidence fr om the investigation will be r eleased to the defense.
In the m eantim e, Kizer 's stor y has dr awn par allels to the Cyntoia Br own case. Br own, a victim of
childhood sex tr affick ing, shot and k illed a m an who'd pur chased her for sex when she was 16 year s old.
She was char ged as an adult and sentenced to to two concur r ent life sentences. The m itigating factor s of
her case ? her age, her neur odevelopm ental disor der , and the entr enched bias against wom en of color in
the justice system ? attr acted celebr ity attention to Br own's case.
On Tuesday, Br own was gr anted clem ency by Tennessee Gover nor Bill H aslam . She will be r eleased fr om
pr ison in August after ser ving 15 year s for her cr im e.