murder Welcome to Country NT Style...

[wiggins]

Body of five-year-old Kumanjayi Little Baby found in Alice Springs as police accuse fugitive Jefferson Lewis of murder
PAIGE TAYLOR and LIAM MENDES

Kumanjayi Little Baby was reported missing from the Alice Springs Older Timers Camp on Marshall Court about 1.35am Sunday. Picture: NT Police



Gift this article
Make us preferred on Google
3 hours ago.
Updated less than a minute ago
The body of a five-year-old who was allegedly snatched from her bed has been found in Alice Springs and police say fugitive Jefferson Lewis murdered her.
Northern Territory Police announced on Wednesday that the body had been located soon after midday local time about 5km from where she was last seen holding hands with her alleged abductor Lewis late on Saturday night at the Old Timers town camp.

NT Police Commissioner Martin Dole announced the discovery at a solemn press conference in Alice Springs, saying the family of the victim had been informed.

“This is an incredibly distressing development,” Commissioner Dole said.

NT Police Commissioner Martin Dole and Superintendent Peter Malley announce the discovery of the body of Kumanjayi Little Babys. Photo: Liam Mendes / The Australian
The family has requested the child be named as Kumanjayi Little Baby.

He said police were not in a position to answer questions about how or when the child died, but they believe Lewis killed her.

The tragic find ends a massive land and air search that Alice Springs turned up for. More than 300 volunteers scoured long grass for four and a half days in the search for Kumanjayi Little Baby.

Police confirmed they believed it was possible that Kumanjayi Little Baby was still alive on Wednesday but acknowledged that time was running out to find her safe and well, according to information provided to them by survival experts.

Robin Granites, the grandfather of Kumanjayi Little Baby, at the home where she went missing at Old Timers Camp in Alice Springs on Wednesday. Photo: Liam Mendes / The Australian
On Thursday, police and forensics officers filmed and collected samples on the edges of the dry Todd River where Kumanjayi Little Baby was found. They used blue tarpaulins to move her body to a waiting vehicle.

The officers did their work in tall grass that proliferated after heavy rain in February and March, in sandy sections of the riverbed and between River Red Gums and Coolibah trees with roots exposed by recent flooding.

Officers appeared to be carefully sorting through items of interest on the edge of the river next to plastic tubs and a case of equipment.

The body of Kumanayi Little Baby is taken away from the beds of the dry Todd River in Alice Springs on Thursday. Photo: Liam Mendes / The Australian
Commissioner Dole said the news was devastating for the child’s family. He said first responders, the Alice Springs community, and all of those around Australia who have been worrying for Kumanjayi Little Baby would also be devastated.

“This is the worst possible outcome. It is very important that Alice Springs community continues to support one another,” he said.

The site where the body of Kumanayi Little Baby was found. Picture: Liam Mendes/The Australian
Police also confirmed at the press conference that forensic testing had identified child-sized underwear found at a crime scene near the Old Timers town camp in Alice Springs as belonging to the five-year-old.

The underwear was found to have DNA on it from two people: Kumanjayi Little Baby and Lewis.

At the press conference, Superintendent Peter Malley warned associates of Lewis believed to be helping him hide.

About 100 Alice Springs residents joined the search for missing five-year-old girl.
“I say to the family of Jefferson Lewis that we believe he has murdered this child. Do not assist him,” Superintendent Malley said.

“Get him to the police station and we will look after him.

“And I say to Jefferson Lewis, we are coming for you”.

Northern Territory Police found the underwear before dawn on Sunday in the sandy bed of the dry Todd River. Close by they also found a doona cover and a distinctive yellow shirt that fugitive Lewis was seen wearing a few hours before he allegedly abducted Kumanjayi Little Baby late on Saturday night or in the very early hours of Sunday.

Lewis had been released from prison just four days before Kumanjayi Little Baby vanished. He has a long and violent criminal history and has been in and out of jail for the past decade.

On Wednesday afternoon, Kumanjayi Little Baby’s family said thank you to everyone who had helped search for her. In a statement issued by police, the family said thanks to “volunteers, everyone who has come from interstate, police, land councils, and everyone else that has turned up every day to look for Kumanjayi Little Baby”.

Message to Kumanjayi Little Baby from her mother and brother​

To Kumanjayi Little Baby,

Me and Ramsiah miss and love you.

I know you are in heaven with the rest of the family with Jesus and the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Me and your brother will meet you one day.

We are giving our lives to Jesus.

It is going to be so hard to live the rest of our lives without you.

Ramsiah wants to tell you that when he sees you in heaven, he is going to give you the biggest hug ever.

Love from Mum and Ramsiah.

 

[wiggins]

When the tribe becomes agitated their behaviour becomes 'inflamed'...

Riot erupts at hospital after vigilante group finds, beats Little Baby’s accused killer​

LIAM MENDES, PAIGE TAYLOR and ELLIE DUDLEY


Listen to this article
8 min

Police guard Alice Springs Hospital on Thursday night after a riot broke out. Picture: Liam Mendes



Gift this article
Make us preferred on Google
14 hours ago.
Updated less than a minute ago
A massive riot has broken out outside a hospital where the man accused of killing a five-year-old in Alice Springs was being treated after a vigilante group tracked him down and beat him.
More than 100 people gathered outside the Alice Springs Hospital late Thursday night, which is being guarded by more than two dozen police officers armed with capsicum spray.













Loaded: 78.81%

00:00 / 00:00

Riot outside Alice Springs Hospital
A massive riot has broken out outside a hospital where the man accused of killing a five-year-old in...
more

A police car was completely destroyed by fire, while others threw rocks at officers. A news cameraman has been targeted by police with pepper spray in the commotion, and police were seen dragging protesters along the footpath.

Jefferson Lewis, accused of kidnapping and killing Kumanjayi Little Baby, was rushed to Alice Springs Hospital under police escort late on Thursday night. It is understood he has now been evacuated from the hospital under heavy police guard.

He was arrested after five days on the run, police confirmed in a short statement, adding that more information would be provided on Friday morning.

Sources told The Australian that Lewis was found at Charles Creek Camp by a group of vigilantes, who allegedly bashed him before calling police.

00:21

Northern Territory Police captured 47-year-old Jefferson Lewis, who they suspect abducted and murdered a five-year-old Alice Springs girl
Northern Territory Police...
more

Word had spread among Aboriginal families that a mob had Lewis at Charles Creek town camp and a crowd soon gathered on the perimeter of the camp, shouting in the direction of Lewis and paramedics on the scene to collect him. Their cries included: “That poor sweet baby!”, “That’s him over there … that prick!”, “Let him die!” and “Hit him!”.

Police patrolled the area to allow the 47-year-old accused child killer to be put in an ambulance.

One video from Charles Creek camp – uploaded to social media – showed two people wheeling a figure on a stretcher towards an ambulance as onlookers call out “Murderer!” “He f. king took her life that prick!” and “Don’t f. king save him!”







Footage of Lewis being put in an ambulance at Charles Creek town camp
A woman livestreamed as...
more

Lewis arrived at hospital before 10pm, escorted by at least three police vehicles at speed.

Some members of the group repeatedly demanded police officers guarding the hospital “bring him out”, while others yelled expletives.

Police detain a person after a riot broke out at Alice Springs Hospital, where accused killer Jefferson Lewis was being treated. Picture: Liam Mendes
In the hours-long riot, at least two shops were also looted and multiple fires were lit. There were two stolen cars believed to be driving around the town in the early hours of the morning after the riot.

Thursday night’s riot came hours after police announced the girl’s body had been found and they believed she was murdered by Lewis, whose DNA was on her clothing.

Anthony Albanese called for answers and justice as police warned Lewis: “We’re coming for you.”

NT police evade rocks thrown from the crowd. Picture: Liam Mendes
The girl’s mother – who asked that her late daughter be known as Kumanjayi Little Baby – thanked the people of Alice Springs and everyone else who tried to find her as she issued a heartbreaking message of love and loss.

The crowd started small but quickly grew, as locals demanded access to Jefferson Lewis. Photo: Liam Mendes
On Thursday, police and forensics officers filmed and collected samples on the edges of the dry Todd River where Kumanjayi Little Baby was found. They used blue tarpaulins to shield her body as they moved it.

Angry crowd forms outside Alice Springs hospital after Jefferson Lewis arrives under heavy police escort. Photo: Liam Mendes
“Me and Ramsiah (Kumanjayi Little Baby’s brother) miss and love you,” the mother wrote in a message published by police. “I know you are in heaven with the rest of the family with Jesus and the Father, Son and Holy Spirit … It is going to be so hard to live the rest of our lives without you.”

Multiple fires were set in areas surrounding the hospital. Photo: Liam Mendes
According to a timeline that police described this week as “still under investigation”, witnesses claim to have seen Kumanjayi Little Baby holding hands with criminal drifter Lewis at the Old Timers town camp in Alice Springs at about 11pm on Saturday. This was after she had been put to bed in a house at the camp.

Angry crowd outside Alice Springs hospital. Picture: Liam Mendes
On Thursday – day five of the search for Kumanjayi Little Baby and a separate hunt for Lewis – police searching on foot found the body on the edge of the Todd River. The body of Kumanjayi Little Baby was found about 5km south of the Old Timers town camp.

It was about 5km from a crime scene police identified in the early hours of Sunday, when they went to the back of the town camp and found a doona cover, Lewis’s shirt and an item of child-sized underwear.

A Territory Response Group officer retrieves a less than lethal shotgun from a vehicle. Photo: Liam Mendes

The torched police car. Photo: Liam Mendes


Superintendent Peter Malley said forensic tests on the crime scene items were significant.

“We located two DNA profiles on the underwear. One – as expected – belongs to the little girl … and the other belongs to Jefferson Lewis,” Superintendent Malley said. “So the focus right now is to locate Jefferson Lewis. That is our sole job in this investigation right now.

Shops were looted during hours long riot. Photo: Liam Mendes
So I say to the family of Jefferson Lewis that we believe he’s murdered this child, do not assist him. Get him to the police station and we’ll look after him. And I say to Jefferson Lewis; we’re coming for you.”



Police believe the Aboriginal community wants Lewis to face justice and they will help locate him. The discovery of Kumanjayi Little Baby’s body and the DNA results on the underwear was deeply upsetting for desert communities. One senior desert man told The Australian: “Lewis is finished, nobody will protect him.”

A police officer said: “We need to get him before his family get him.”

In a message posted on social media on Thursday afternoon, the Prime Minister said: “Our hearts are broken. She was just at the start of life’s adventure. This is the tragic outcome we were all desperately hoping against.

“No words can measure up to the immensity of the grief her family is going through. In their time of terrible loss, all Australians hold them in our hearts.

“This is devastating for the whole Alice Springs community. We wish them strength, and also to the police in their difficult work as they pursue answers and, ultimately, justice.”





Forensics officers called in after the discovery of Kumanjayi Little Baby’s body worked in tall grass that proliferated after heavy rain in February and March.



Indigenous Australians Minister Malarndirri McCarthy said her thoughts were with Kumanjayi Little Baby’s family, her extended family across the Territory, the Alice Springs community and communities across Central Australia.

​