By Patrick Burles - @PatrickBurles on Twitter

Manslaughter trial gets underway in Fort Macleod

Mar 27, 2017 | 6:29 PM

FORT MACLEOD – “I tried my hardest. I tried, I tried… I was hoping I could bring her back.”

Dorothy Medicine Crane sobbed as she said those words, while testifying in connection with the death of her daughter, 22-year old Brittany Medicine Crane.

Brittany died on May 21, 2015, and her spouse, Allen Day Rider, is accused of manslaughter in the case.

Dorothy testified that on the day her daughter died, she and a few of her children went to the home Brittany shared with Day Rider and their two year old daughter in Standoff. She was upset after learning that the couple had been drinking with others, after they had just returned from a substance abuse treatment program so they could regain custody of their daughter.

Day Rider answered the door, but ignored her and started getting changed as she followed him around the house and asked why they had been drinking.

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When she went to check on Brittany, she testified that Day Rider told her not to, saying Brittany wasn’t decent. She then saw Brittany, lying in bed, and the site prompted one of her sons to attack Day Rider, who fled the home.

She then found Brittany was cold to the touch, and panicked as she started CPR. She says she tried to save her daughter, but that it was too late.

Another family member called 911, and both a Blood Tribe Police officer and EMS were on scene within minutes, however, they pronounced Brittany dead soon after.

As part of her testimony, Dorothy stated that Brittney had often come to her house to recover from bruises sustained in fights with Day Rider, although she acknowledged that she never actually saw any of the incidents.

Brittany’s sister, Kelly Heavy Runner, was next on the stand, saying she babysat for the couple the night before Brittany died, as they had a number of people over to their house. She stated that there was heavy drinking and that she was told some people were using drugs, but she didn’t see any consumed.

The party carried over into the early morning hours of May 21, at which time with Heavy Runner says she watched an argument between Brittany and Day Rider, in which they were pushing each other. She said that arguments weren’t uncommon for the couple and at times it became physical, adding, “Sometimes their arguments can escalate.”

The Crown then proceeded to call the victim’s sister-in-law, Natalia Eagle Plume. She acknowledged that following a birthday party for Brittany’s daughter on May 20, the two of them went to another home in Standoff where they purchased the street drug Oxy 80. They snorted it with some friends and moved on to alcohol, going back to the drug several times throughout the evening and into the next morning.

While checking on her own child who was sleeping, she says she heard a bang. She then testified to seeing Day Rider come up behind Brittany and put her in a choke-hold. Fearing for the safety of her child and Brittany’s daughter, she grabbed both children and fled, saying she saw the couple wrestling on the ground as she left.

Once outside, she found the others were in a vehicle that was about to leave, so she climbed in and locked the doors, refusing to return the child when Brittany approached the truck.

The group left Standoff and went to Dorothy’s home, where they told her about what happened. Eagle Plume stated that when they all returned later that day, Day Rider answered the door in pajama pants that had blood on them, saying she also noticed blood on the floor.

The trial is scheduled to run all week in Fort Macleod.