Killing of Kumanjayi Little Baby

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On 25 April 2026, a five-year-old Aboriginal Australian girl, known posthumously as Kumanjayi Little Baby for cultural reasons, was abducted from one of the town camps at Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. Her body was discovered five days later on 30 April 2026.

The abduction was initially treated as a missing person case and sparked major search efforts near Alice Springs. Simultaneously, police conducted a manhunt for Jefferson Lewis, a distant relative and recently released prisoner, who was the last person seen with the child. Lewis was located at another town camp on 30 April, where police and paramedics rescued him from a severe beating. Riots subsequently broke out in Alice Springs involving individuals who sought to punish Lewis under Indigenous Australian customary law.

On 2 May 2026, Lewis was charged with murder and two counts of sexual assault.

Kumanjayi Little Baby was a Gurindji-Warlpiri girl who was five years old at the time of her death. Her name, Sharon Granites, was published in media while she was a missing person but, after her death and in accordance with Aboriginal cultural practices for the deceased, her family requested that she be referred to as "Kumanjayi Little Baby".

Kumanjayi Little Baby was raised by her parents and extended family and had an older brother. She and her family had been subject to multiple child protection notifications, all related to alleged domestic violence from her father upon her mother. He was in prison at the time of her death on aggravated assault and domestic violence charges. Her family is originally from the remote communities Kalkarindji and Yuendumu, but had lived in other places, and moved Ilyperenye Old Timers, a town camp on the southern outskirts of Alice Springs, so that they could access medical specialists for Kumanjayi Little Baby, in town. The condition of housing at the camp was poor, with limited services available and residences shared between extended family members.

According to relatives, Kumanjayi Little Baby was unable to talk and communicated mostly through hand gestures.

Kumanjayi Little Baby was reported missing at 1:30 am on 26 April 2026. Witnesses subsequently reported that she had last been seen at 11 pm on 25 April holding hands with Jefferson Lewis, a member of her extended family who had been staying in the same residence at Ilyperenye Old Timers.

Kumanjayi Little Baby's disappearance sparked extensive search efforts by the Northern Territory Police and around 300 volunteers, with around 5 square kilometres (1.9 mi2) covered on foot and 80 square kilometres (31 mi2) covered by vehicle and air. Police initially believed Kumanjayi Little Baby may have been abandoned in bushland after her abduction. Later on 26 April, police located Lewis's shirt, a child's underwear, and a doona cover in the dry bed of the Todd River. A crime scene was declared at the site and an order was issued for Lewis's arrest. Forensic testing found traces of both Kumanjayi Little Baby's and Lewis's DNA on the underwear.

On 30 April 2026, police announced that Kumanjayi Little Baby's body had been found by a search party. A cause of death was not initially reported but police were treating her death as a homicide.

Jefferson Lewis was released from prison six days before Kumanjayi Little Baby's abduction, after being sentenced to 18 months imprisonment in October 2024 for aggravated assault, domestic violence offences, and breaching bail. His prison sentence was subsequently extended by three months on separate convictions of contravening a domestic violence order and resisting police. Lewis's earlier prison sentences included 12 months in 2016 for aggravated assault, 19 months in 2018 for aggravated assault and other charges, and 11 months in 2022 for aggravated assault.

On 2 May 2026, Lewis was charged with murder and two counts of sexual assault.

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Killing of Kumanjayi Little Baby - Wikipedia

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