Isaiah Rider makes court appearance in Christa Cachene beating death
CBC News | Posted: October 26, 2015 6:52 PM | Last Updated: October 27, 2015
26-year-old found dead in her Ranchlands home earlier this week
The 18-year-old accused of beating a pregnant Calgary woman to death was in a Calgary courtroom Monday morning.
Isaiah Rider, who appeared in a blue jumpsuit with his ankles shackled, is being represented by senior defence lawyer Balfour Der. He faces a second-degree murder charge after Christa Cachene, 26, was found dead in her Ranchlands home on Oct. 11.
Her father found her body. Police believe she died "as a result of a vicious beating" the morning after a party at her house.
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Warrants were issued for Rider's arrest last week. He was arrested on the Ermineskin First Nation Reserve, about 100 kilometres south of Edmonton, on Friday.
Police said investigators recovered a firearm, but it's not yet known if it's related to the homicide.
Rider will be back in a Calgary courtroom in a month.
Vigil held
Family and friends held a vigil for Cachene on Sunday night at Olympic Plaza. About 80 people gathered in her memory and to protest violence against women.
Vigil organizer Laura Ducharme says, as a First Nations woman, she felt it important to speak out about violence against women among aboriginal communities.
"That could be my daughter, right? When I look at them, I mean that could be one of my girls. And that's just — it's not fair and it's not right," she said.
"And we won't, we won't stand for that anymore, we won't stand for the violence that we've taken for so many years."