{"id":411282,"date":"2026-05-04T12:48:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T12:48:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/411282\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T12:48:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T12:48:10","slug":"dont-politicise-alice-springs-girl-little-babys-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/411282\/","title":{"rendered":"Don’t politicise Alice Springs girl Little Baby’s death"},"content":{"rendered":"

The family of a murdered five-year-old girl has pleaded for leaders to refrain from turning her death into a political debate as police make more arrests over wild riots<\/a> that broke out after her body was found.<\/p>\n

Jefferson Lewis, 47, has been charged with murder and other offences after Kumanjayi Little Baby was found dead<\/a> in bushland near Alice Springs on Thursday, five days after she went missing.<\/p>\n

Kumanjayi \u2013 the name used in line with cultural tradition after her death \u2013 disappeared from a home<\/a> in an Indigenous town camp, sparking a massive land and air search.<\/p>\n

Lewis was arrested later on Thursday at another Alice Springs town camp after being beaten unconscious<\/a> by locals.<\/p>\n

Police took him to Alice Springs Hospital where a large, angry crowd gathered outside demanding he face traditional justice.<\/p>\n

Five emergency service workers were injured and police vehicles and ambulances were damaged in the rioting, while nearby businesses were looted and trashed.<\/p>\n

Lewis was evacuated to Darwin by the NT Police air wing for his own safety and that of hospital staff.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, he was charged with murder and other offences ahead of an expected court appearance during the week.<\/p>\n

Police continue to investigate looting and violence that erupted following Lewis’s arrest, including extensive damage to local businesses.<\/p>\n

They have released footage of chaotic scenes as dozens looters pour into a service station and steal stock.<\/p>\n

The station was trashed and staff cars were also damaged.<\/p>\n

‘Let the justice system do its work’<\/p>\n

The man arrested over the killing of a five-year-old girl has been flown out of an outback town after a crowd angry at the accused murderer clashed with police. (Source: Nine)<\/p>\n

Northern Territory Police Commissioner Martin Dole insisted the behaviour had nothing to do with grief or cultural law.<\/p>\n

A number of people have handed themselves in and more than a dozen arrests have been made over the unrest, with more charges expected as investigators review hundreds of hours of CCTV and body-worn video.<\/p>\n

Accused looters were being charged with aggravated burglary and stealing, police said.<\/p>\n

Officers are also searching for people they believe sheltered Lewis before his arrest.<\/p>\n

Kumanjayi Little Baby’s grandfather, senior Warlpiri Elder Robin Japanangka Granites, called for calm<\/a> and asked politicians to respect the family’s “sorry time”, a reference to a period of cultural mourning.<\/p>\n

He said the family was relieved a man would face court over the death of their “little queen”.<\/p>\n

“We must now let the justice system do its work,” Granites told the ABC.<\/p>\n

“We do need to work together on this, on many issues facing our people and communities here in central Australia.<\/p>\n

“But our little baby’s passing must not become a politician’s issue or an argument.”<\/p>\n

The girl’s death has spurred calls from the federal opposition for a review of conditions within town camps and money spent on the sites, as well as for a royal commission into the abuse of Indigenous children.<\/p>\n

But Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has doused calls for an inquiry, saying his government’s AU$4 billion (NZ$4.8 billion) in spending on remote housing was already improving living standards.<\/p>\n

A candle-light vigil for Kumanjayi Little Baby is due to be held on Thursday evening with participants asked to wear pink, the young girl’s favourite colour.<\/p>\n

The mood in Alice Springs was sombre but there was a determination to support one another, particularly the grieving family, mayor Asta Hill said.<\/p>\n

“Our absolute focus right now is on a town that is in distress but also on a town that is steered toward calm and healing,” she told the ABC.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The family of a murdered five-year-old girl has pleaded for leaders to refrain from turning her death into…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":411283,"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-411282","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\/411282","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=411282"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411282\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/411283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=411282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=411282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=411282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}