Courts

Emergency in court leads to disruption of a La Crosse human trafficking trial

Published

4 weeks ago

June 11, 2025

A mistrial has been declared in a La Crosse county human trafficking case, because of a medical emergency that happened in court on Wednesday.

The trial for Shantylle Kibler of La Crosse began Wednesday morning. Jury selection took place earlier this week, at about the same time that jurors were seated for the homicide trial of Anquin St. Junious, which ended Tuesday with a guilty verdict. Judge Ramona Gonzalez had scheduled the Kibler trial to begin after the conclusion of the St. Junious case.

Kibler is charged with trafficking and false imprisonment. She allegedly forced the female victim to pose for photos without her clothes on, and threatened to post the pictures online unless the victim paid off a debt to a friend of Kibler’s.

Court records show several witnesses had testified at the trial on Wednesday before the emergency. A new hearing in the case is scheduled two weeks from now.

Brad Williams

A native of Prairie du Chien, Brad graduated from UW - La Crosse and has worked in radio news for more than 30 years, mostly in the La Crosse area. He regularly covers local courts and city and county government. Brad produces the features "Yesterday in La Crosse" and "What's Buried on Brad's Desk." He also writes the website "Triviazoids," which finds odd connections between events that happen on a certain date, and he writes and performs with the local comedy group Heart of La Crosse. Brad been featured on several national TV programs because of his memory skills.