An Alabama man has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for killing a man who sexually abused his daughter between the ages of 4 and 9.

He pleaded guilty so his daughter would not have to testify at trial, reported AL.com in Alabama.

Jay Maynor, 43, was sentenced to 40 years after he murdered his daughter’s maternal grandfather after he was told he had sexually abused her when she was a young girl.

His daughter, now a mother of three, told the local publication, “Basically he took it so that I didn’t have to relive the molestation and also be on the stand in front of a bunch of people talking about and bringing back memories of molestation.”

“My father was protecting me, like a father should do. He is an amazing father–actually the best. He loves us so much,” Julia Maynor of Cullman, Alabama added.

Jay Maynor shot his daughter’s maternal grandfather, 59-year-old Raymond Earl Brooks, in 2014. Brooks pleaded guilty in 2002 to sexually abusing Julia.

The murder was prompted after Julia Maynor spoke to her father about the abuse, AL.com reported.

“I haven’t seen Raymond in years. It was just something I said out of anger to my father.”

On June 9, 2014, right after Julia talked to her father, Jay Maynor drove to Brooks’ home.

On his way there, he fired shots into a country store and into a Quick stop when he saw a man who had abused his stepdaughter while he was dating her. The boyfriend was unharmed but Jay Maynor was charged with attempted murder. Maynor pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Julia Maynor says she thinks the prison sentence is unfair. “He took my innocence away and only served like 18 months, and now I suffer daily from what Raymond did to me. It’s not fair, she told AL.com. She told the paper she now suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.

“I’m going through hell. Everything comes back to me as to why this has happened. I feel like it’s my fault. I’m sad but yet mad.”

Lana Shadwick is a contributing writer and legal analyst for Breitbart Texas. She has served as a prosecutor and associate judge in Texas. Follow her on Twitter @LanaShadwick2.