After a six-year-long legal battle, a judge has sentenced sex-trafficking victim Chrystul Kizer to 11 years in prison for killing her abuser.
Kizer won't serve the full 11 years after Kenosha County Judge David P. Wilk credited her with more than a year and a half of time already served, according to The Washington Post.
The victim, who was 17 at the time, is now 24 and had initially faced a possible life sentence for shooting 34-year-old Randall Volar III.
Volar, a White man, had been filming his sexual abuse of Kizer, who is Black, for more than a year.
Kizer agreed to plead guilty to a reduced charge of second-degree reckless homicide with use of a dangerous weapon, which carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.
Kenosha County DA Michael Gravely argued that Kizer planned the murder to steal Volar's BMW; however, public defender Jennifer Bias claimed Kizer acted in self-defense after Volar pinned her down and tried to sexually assault her.
Advocates said Kizer's case was the first in Wisconsin where a sex-trafficking victim was allowed to use an "affirmative defense" for a homicide charge.
Over 30 states have affirmative defense provisions allowing trafficking victims to be acquitted if they can prove at trial that the crime was a result of their abuse.
