{"id":405803,"date":"2026-04-30T23:49:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T23:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/405803\/"},"modified":"2026-04-30T23:49:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T23:49:09","slug":"clashes-in-alice-springs-after-little-girls-alleged-killer-arrested-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/405803\/","title":{"rendered":"Clashes in Alice Springs after little girl’s alleged killer arrested"},"content":{"rendered":"

A recently released prisoner has been arrested after an abducted girl was found dead<\/a>, with crowds angry at the accused killer clashing with police.<\/p>\n

The search for Jefferson Lewis, 47, had intensified following the discovery of a child’s body about 5km from where a five-year-old disappeared<\/a> near Alice Springs at the weekend.<\/p>\n

Police said it was believed to be that of the missing girl<\/a>, referred to as Kumanjayi Little Baby at her family’s request.<\/p>\n

“A short time ago, the Northern Territory Police Force located and arrested Jefferson Lewis at a residence in Alice Springs,” authorities said on Thursday evening.<\/p>\n

“Further information will be provided early in the morning.”<\/p>\n

\"Kumanjayi<\/p>\n

Kumanjayi Little Baby (Source: Supplied)<\/p>\n

Crowds clashed with police officers overnight outside Alice Springs Hospital, where Lewis was reportedly taken.<\/p>\n

A police vehicle was set alight outside the hospital.<\/p>\n

Earlier on Thursday, police addressed the girl’s accused abductor and killer.<\/p>\n

“We’re coming for you,” Northern Territory Police Assistant Commissioner Peter Malley said.<\/p>\n

The girl went missing after being put to bed at a residence in the Old Timers camp near Alice Springs on Saturday night.<\/p>\n

Lewis is accused of abducting her just six days after being released from prison.<\/p>\n

It sparked one of the NT’s largest investigations with almost 200 people scouring harsh desert country for the non-verbal girl and Lewis.<\/p>\n

The child’s body was found about noon on Thursday, on day five of the search.<\/p>\n

A pair of children’s underwear found during the investigation had been linked by forensic analysis to both Mr Lewis and the girl, police said.<\/p>\n

Police are adamant Lewis had been helped by people in the community and remained in the Alice Springs area.<\/p>\n

“To the family of Jefferson Lewis: we believe he has murdered this child \u2014 do not assist him,” Malley said.<\/p>\n

“Get him to the police station and we’ll look after him.”<\/p>\n

Lewis was sentenced to 64 months in prison, between 2016 and 2025, for offences including aggravated assaults, breaching domestic violence orders, bail and resisting police.<\/p>\n

NT Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro did not rule out a reward or policy response as police hunted Lewis, after leading condolences for the girl’s heartbroken family.<\/p>\n

“Everything is on the table. We will be led by the police investigation,” she said.<\/p>\n

“A poor young lady has passed away, and the police are now doing the work to stop this happening again, to make sure that the person who did this is caught.”<\/p>\n

A post-mortem examination, expected to be conducted within days, will be crucial in determining the cause and timing of the girl’s death, police said.<\/p>\n

A coronial process kicked off as the girl’s family reeled from the tragedy.<\/p>\n

Kumanjayi Little Baby’s devastated family paid tribute to their beloved girl, thanking everyone who took part in the search.<\/p>\n

“I know you are in heaven with the rest of the family,” her mother said in a statement.<\/p>\n

“Me and your brother will meet you one day. We are giving our lives to Jesus.<\/p>\n

“It’s going to be so hard to live the rest of our lives without you.”<\/p>\n

The morning’s headlines in 90 seconds, including a man\u2019s arrested after the abduction and death of a young girl in Australia, and new road safety warnings amid a spike in deaths. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A recently released prisoner has been arrested after an abducted girl was found dead, with crowds angry at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":405715,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[85,67,42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-405803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-australia","tag-crime-and-justice","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405803","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=405803"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405803\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/405715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=405803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=405803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=405803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}