Kumanjayi Little Baby’s family say they feel let down after missing her alleged murderer’s court hearing

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Kumanjayi Little Baby’s kinship grandfather Robin Japanangka Granites says the family was not informed.

In short:

The family of Kumanjayi Little Baby say they were given incorrect information and missed the first court proceedings linked to the five-year-old’s alleged murderer.

Kumanjayi’s kinship grandfather Robin Japanangka Granites says the Warlpiri-speaking family were told “nothing” about the timing of the matter, or that the court’s live-stream link was broken.

What’s next?

Going forward, Mr Granites wants authorities to keep the family informed about the case, which is due to return to court on July 30.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains the image of an Indigenous person who has died, used with the permission of her family.

The family of Kumanjayi Little Baby say they feel let down by the court system and have called for better communication from authorities after missing the first hearing of the criminal case against Jefferson Lewis yesterday.

Mr Lewis was charged with the five-year-old’s murder after she disappeared from a town camp in Alice Springs last month, sparking an extensive search before her body was found nearby on Thursday.

A young Indigenous girl wearing a pink dress does the peace sign symbol with her fingers.

The five-year-old’s family has requested that she be referred to as Kumanjayi Little Baby. (Supplied: NT Police)

Senior Warlpiri elder and Kumanjayi’s kinship grandfather, Robin Japanangka Granites, told the ABC his family was not given the correct information about yesterday’s hearing.

Kumanjayi’s family arrived at the courthouse as lawyers representing both the prosecution and the defence made their way out, after the proceeding had ended.

Mr Granites said the grieving family — whose first language is Warlpiri — needed more clarity around how the legal process worked because they “weren’t told anything at all”.

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Kumanjayi Little Baby’s family, including senior Warlpiri elder Robin Japanangka Granites, missed the court mention on Tuesday.

“There was no one to represent my family at the courthouse, not even the mum of a baby, the girl that we lost, not even the interpreters, there was no one there to interpret for our people,” he said.

“When the families are out there, they should be coming out and giving us all the updates, even the lawyers, but there were no lawyers to come out and talk to us.”

Mr Lewis was excused from appearing in court yesterday and for forthcoming mentions, and Mr Granites said the family was disappointed he would not be required to be present throughout proceedings.

The Warlpiri elder said Kumanjayi’s family had also not been properly informed that plans to publicly live-stream the hearing had failed “due to technical difficulties”.

A man in an olive shirt with a goatee

Robin Japanangka Granites says he was unable to follow yesterday’s court proceeding after a planned live-stream failed due to technical difficulties. (ABC News: Xavier Martin)

“It all happened in there and those people in there didn’t even tell us what was going on,” Mr Granites said.

“They didn’t even tell us any time [for the hearing], nothing at all.”

In a statement, NT Courts said Mr Lewis’s matter was scheduled to begin at 9:30am yesterday, and proceeded around 10am.

“Due to the importance of the matter it was given priority on the day,” a spokesperson said.

“Unfortunately, the court was not notified that there were family making their way to court to attend.”

The Director of Public Prosecutions was also approached for comment.

The case will return to court on July 30.