Left: Chrystul Kizer sits in the Kenosha County Courthouse on Feb. 6, 2020, in Kenosha, Wisconsin (Paul Williams/The Kenosha News via AP, File); Right: Kizer appears in a booking photo (Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office).
A Wisconsin woman who admittedly killed her longtime alleged rapist and set fire to his house was arrested in Louisiana this week by federal authorities on a bail-jumping warrant out of Kenosha County.
Chrystul Kizer, 23, became a cause célèbre online in 2018 after she was charged with murder in the first degree, arson, theft, and other charges related to the death of Randall Phillip Volar, III, 34.
In January, while out on bail and awaiting a trial in which she plans to claim self-defense, the defendant was charged with one count of disorderly conduct in Milwaukee County and four counts of bail jumping in Kenosha County — one of which was because she allegedly changed her address without notifying the court, according to a prosecutor’s motion to increase bail reviewed by Law&Crime.
Wanted for nearly two weeks, Kizer was found by U.S. Marshals in Lafayette Parish on Monday — with the man she accused of attempting to rape her during a recent domestic disturbance call.
On Jan. 7, police in Milwaukee were dispatched to an apartment in response to a battery complaint by Kizer. She alleged David Melton, 47, had attacked and attempted to rape her. Police, however, wrote they heard a male voice in the background yelling, “stop hitting me” while Kizer herself also yelled throughout the call, according to a complaint obtained by Milwaukee-based Fox affiliate WITI.
Once there, Kizer told officers she had just learned Melton was a registered sex offender and accused him of lying. A series of arguments allegedly ensued, during which officers struggled to keep Kizer and Melton away from one another. Police also say that Kizer repeatedly threatened Melton with violence and “continued to yell and act belligerently.”
At one point, police allege, Melton was looking for his car keys so he could leave when Kizer allegedly hit Melton “in the face directly in front of police,” according to the Milwaukee complaint.
The next day, arrested on a less serious misdemeanor charge, Kizer was quickly released by Milwaukee authorities. Kenosha County prosecutors, however, added several felony charges — alleging they were committed during the same incident as the alleged misdemeanor offense against Melton.
Federal authorities say she was arrested in a parking lot with Melton. She now faces extradition back to the Badger State.
Kizer was 16 when Volar allegedly began sexually abusing her and recording his acts on film as part of his history of producing child sexual abuse material — along with unwilling forcing her to work as a prostitute for other men, often multiple times per day.
When she was 17, Kizer killed Volar by shooting him twice in the head. After that, she set his body on fire and fled in his car. The woman was just one of numerous underage Black victims police believe the wealthy, white pedophile had been abusing for some time.
Law enforcement long had Volar in their sights. At the time of his death, he faced counts of child enticement, using a computer to facilitate a child sex crime and second-degree sexual assault of a child.
When he was arrested for those offenses, investigators said they found “hundreds” of videos featuring child sexual abuse material and more than 20 “home videos” of Volar sexually abusing Black children.
In July 2022, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that Kizer could use a self-defense claim in her murder case by relying on a law that gives victims of human trafficking or child sex trafficking “an affirmative defense for any offense committed as a direct result” of said trafficking “without regard to whether anyone was prosecuted or convicted” for the underlying sex crime or crimes.
Kizer spent nearly two years in jail after being arrested for killing Volar. A collection of victim’s rights groups raised $400,000 to have her released pretrial. Kenosha County is now pushing to have Kizer’s bail raised to $1 million — the amount bail was originally set at in her case.
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