BIG RAPIDS, MI -- Katherine Hawley, knowing that her daughter was inside a home that had been entered by an angry, shotgun-toting man, rushed to the Mecosta County residence to protect her.

Hawley ended up dead, shot in the head in front of Jamey Shields, the daughter she sought to save.

Shields spent the next several hours trying to keep herself together in the face of her own brutal rape, the sexual assault of two other women and other unspeakable crimes that played out on Nov. 21, 2013, as Duncan Willis terrorized people he mistakenly believed had reported him to state child welfare workers.

On Wednesday, as a judge sentenced Willis to a term of life plus 202 years, it was an opportunity for the women to stand up to their attacker.

Shields insulted the Big Rapids man. Sarah Baker spoke firmly to Willis, who was restrained and wearing an orange jail uniform.

"My whole world has been rocked," said Baker, who along with Shields are being identified by MLive and The Grand Rapids Press with their permission. "He didn't ruin me because I will never let him win."

Police said the ordeal began when Willis walked to Baker’s home on Cramer Road angry over his belief that she’d called Child Protective Services on him. Willis had recently gained custody of 6-year-old twins and was caring for three other children. Authorities said the report to child welfare workers did not come from anyone in the house.

Willis entered the home around 8:30 p.m. armed with a long gun. Shields had been on the phone with her boyfriend at the time, but abruptly ended the call. The boyfriend, who was out of state and concerned for her well-being, contacted Hawley, prompting her to go to the home.

As she entered, Willis shot and killed the 58-year-old woman at point blank range, authorities said.

Willis never bothered to try to hide the woman’s body from Baker’s 7-month-old daughter or two 7-year-old boys who were in the house, authorities said.

In the hours that followed, the three women inside the home were repeatedly sexually assaulted. Baker held tight to her infant daughter throughout the night.

After 10 hours, Willis finally surrendered to police. He has since denied committing any of the crimes, an attempt to deflect responsibility that rings hollow, according to Mecosta County Prosecutor Peter Jaklevic.

"I would challenge anyone to find a more heinous crime than this one," Prosecutor Peter Jaklevic told him. "Mr. Willis and his conduct that night, he ranks at the top in terms of this county's history."

Shields, standing feet from her attacker, looked straight at him as she described losing her mother, who was her best friend. Willis was not worthy to be called by name, she said. His children don't deserve to have him as a father, she said.

Judge Ronald Nichols ordered silence when Willis responded to her, saying: "You know nothing about me.”

Nichols did not mince words as he handed down the life sentence with 202 additional years for the murder and sex assaults. He wanted to be absolutely sure Willis would never again see life as a free man.

"This is the most heinous, cowardly act I've ever heard of," he said.

Jaklevic, in an interview after the hearing, praised the judge’s stern sentence.

"Mr. Willis has never owned up and taken responsibility for anything he's ever done,” the prosecutor said. “Mr. Willis personifies evil. The man has no conscience."

Baker shared her relief in knowing that sentencing was complete and she could move on. Willis will never live again in a world without fences, she said.