A father has accepted a 40-year prison sentence for murdering his daughter’s sexually abusive grandfather to save her from testifying.
Julia Maynor was sexually assaulted multiple times between the ages of four and nine by Raymond Earl Brooks, her maternal grandfather.
Jay Maynor subsequently pleaded guilty after shooting dead Brooks in Alabama in June 2014, reports WVTM 3.
“Basically he took it so that I didn't have to relive the molestation,” Ms Maynor told AI. “And also be on the stand in front of a bunch of people talking about and bringing back memories of the molestation.”
"My father was protecting me, like a father should do. He is an amazing father - actually the best. He loves us so much."
Brooks served 27 months of a five-year sentence in 2002 after pleading guilty, but was shot by Maynor after his daughter said “something out of anger” that sparked him into action.
Ms Maynor waived her right to anonymity as a victim of a sex crime to speak out about the years following the abuse.
“I've tried counselling and that didn't work and it's still here today,” she said. “I relive it every day. I struggle to get out of bed in the morning.”
The 24-year-old mother of three is now considering divorcing her husband to avoid “making him miserable with my miserable life”.
On his way to Brooks’ home, Maynor fired into a convenience store when he saw a man who had been dating a different stepdaughter.
Ms Maynor said the father did it because the man has been abusive to her sister during the relationship.
As the man was unharmed, Maynor was charged with attempted murder and sentenced to 20 years in prison, to run concurrently with his murder conviction.
Ms Maynor thinks the sentence handed down to her father is unfair compared to the one given to her grandfather.
"He took my innocence away and only served like 18 months, and now I suffer daily from what Raymond did to me," Ms Maynor said. “It's not fair."
