Violence erupts in courtroom as victim's friend attacks killer sentenced to 15 years

Emotions exploded ina violent, dramatic scene in a Calgary courtroom on Wednesday as the man who killed Christa Cachene was attacked by her best friend immediately after being sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Only one sheriff was in the courtroom, guarding Isaiah Rider, as the attacker stormed the prisoner's box yelling "your court is a f**king joke."

She got between the two, fending off the attacker, who was identified only as "Josh" by Cachene's mother. In one motion, the sheriff pulled her baton while shovingRider into the back cells. Sheradioedfor backup.

"The sheriff did a fantastic job," said Rider's lawyer, Balfour Der. "This was a highly volatile situation."

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Outside the courtroom,sheriffs arrived and arrested the man for assault, taking him to the basement cells of the courthouse. Members of Rider's family who werein the courtroom were taken to the cafeteria to write out witness statements.

"I'm sick to my stomach, I'm worried about his life in jail," said Rider's mother, Amanda Kayseas,who was shaking and crying after giving her witness statement.

Calgary police confirmedthey have aman in his early 30s in custody who is facing charges of assault and assaulting a peace officer.

Court of Queen's Bench Justice SuzanneBenslerhad just left the courtroom when the outburst occurred.

"Never seen that before," said prosecutor Matthew Block. "Emotions were obviously high. It's obviously not the right way to go about it."

Prosecutors Joe Mercier andBlock had proposed an 18-year sentence and thatRider serve at least half of that before being eligible for parole.Rider's lawyer proposed a 15-year prison term.

"No sentence can reflect the value of [Cachene's]life," saidBensler before ruling thatRider would be able to apply for parole after the standard one-third of his sentence.

But Cachene's family members were disappointed with the prison term.

"It is never going to be enough because she's not coming back," said the victim's mother, Nancy Cachene."She's never going to come back."

• Calgary woman unrecognizable to father after fatal beating, court hears

In October 2015,Cachene'sfather arrived at her home to drop off the 26-year-old woman's children. When Leslie Whiteheadfound his daughter's body at the bottom of her basement stairs, he didn'trecognize her because she had been so badly beaten.

Whitehead died less than two weeks ago, before he could see his daughter's killer sentenced.

Originally charged with second-degree murder, Rider pleaded guilty to manslaughter in April.

Cachene was hosting a party at her home overthe weekend of Oct. 9, 2015. On the Saturday night,Cacheneused a small knife to stab Rider in the hand and lower back after a fight broke out between the two. Rider then knocked Cachene to the ground and began to stomp on her chest and head.

Eventually, he threw her down the basement stairs.An autopsy would findCachenesuffereda broken vertebrae, broken rib and perforated liver as well as considerable damage to her spine and neck and internal bleeding.

After Calgary police issued an Alberta-wide warrant for Rider weeks later, the fugitivefound himself stranded with a broken-down car on the side of Highway 2. When passersby stopped to help, Rider beat them with a baton. Hepleaded guilty toassaultand theft of a motor vehicle.

Rider will get threeyears credit for the time he hasalready served since his arrest.

Kayseassaid her son is loved and feels remorse. Both she and her own mother, Karen Desjarlais, spoke of the intergenerational trauma suffered by their family's four generations of residential school survivors.

Desjarlais said she had a "lack of parenting skills," which she passed on to her daughter.

"There was a lot of addictions thatruined, that had a great impact on how I brought up my girl and how she brought up her son," said Desjarlais.

His family hopes Cachene'sare in the process of healing.

"We want them to understand we feel their loss. We are so sorry, and there's nothing that can change this other than to forgive, healand grow."