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  "path": "/2026/05/01/man-who-abducted-killed-girl-5-airlifted-town-hunted-vigilantes-28193026/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-05-01T08:24:50.000Z",
  "site": "https://metro.co.uk",
  "tags": [
    "News",
    "World",
    "Australia",
    "Crime News",
    "supports HTML5\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tvideo",
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  "textContent": "To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tvideo\n\nUp Next\n\nPrevious Page\n\nNext Page\n\n**The prime suspect in the abduction and murder of a five-year-old girl had to be airlifted out of a remote Australian town for his own safety during a night of rioting on the streets.**\n\nJefferson Lewis, 47, was relocated after hundreds of locals clashed with police demanding ‘payback’ for the killing of the indigenous youngster, referred to by her family as Kumanjayi Little Baby.\n\nKumanjayi disappeared from a community camp in Alice Springs on Saturday night, sparking a days-long search on foot and by air that gripped much of the country.\n\nAfter her body was found around three miles from the camp, police named Lewis as her suspected killer and urged him to surrender.\n\nHe later handed himself in to Indigenous community members, who beat him unconscious while meting out ‘vigilante justice’.\n\nIn an update, Northern Territory Police Force Commissioner Martin Dole told reporters: ‘He presented himself to one of the town camps in Alice Springs last night.\n\n##  Sign up for all of the latest stories\n\nStart your day informed with Metro's **News Updates** newsletter or get **Breaking News** alerts the moment it happens.\n\n‘As a result of presenting himself, members of that town camp decided to inflict vigilante justice upon Jefferson.’\n\nWhen police and emergency services intervened, they too came under attack before Lewis was taken to hospital, Mr Dole said.\n\nHe added that a large crowd of around 400 people gathered outside the hospital and then tried to force their way inside.\n\nKumanjayi Little Baby was allegedly murdered in Alice Springs, Australia (Picture: Reuters)\n\nJefferson Lewis was arrested in connection with the death of the five-year-old (Picture: Reuters)\n\nScreengrab purportedly showing alleged killer Jefferson Lewis being arrested (Picture: Facebook)\n\nA police vehicle burns after community members clashed with police outside Alice Springs Hospital (Picture: Reuters)\n\nMembers of the indigenous community gather outside Alice Springs Hospital after the arrest of Jefferson Lewis (Picture: Facebook)\n\nFootage from the ABC showed Indigenous people calling for ‘payback’, which refers to traditional, mostly physical, punishment in Aboriginal societies.\n\nPolice fired tear gas to disperse the crowd, who threw projectiles and lit fires, injuring a number of police officers and medical workers, and damaging police vehicles, ambulances and fire trucks.\n\nMr Dole said: ‘We called out all the resources we had available to quell that violent disturbance.\n\n‘And just let me say that the behaviour that we saw last night cannot be explained away, excused or accepted.’\n\nTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tvideo\n\nUp Next\n\nPrevious Page\n\nNext Page\n\nA woman is carried by police during community unrest outside Alice Springs Hospital (Picture: Reuters)\n\nOne woman was being investigated for allegedly trying to set a police car alight.\n\nPolice said they removed Lewis for his safety from hospital to the Northern Territory capital of Darwin, where he was being held in custody.\n\nHe is expected to face charges in the coming days.\n\nPrime Minister Anthony Albanese said he understood ‘people’s anger and frustration’ but urged the community to come together.\n\nNorthern Territory Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro said Kumanjayi’s death was the realisation of ‘our worst nightmares’.\n\nBut it was no excuse for violence, she said, recalling how the community had united to search for the missing child.\n\n‘This week, we’ve seen this town come together like never before – hundreds of people walking shoulder to shoulder through the long buffel grass, through the bush, to make sure we left no stone unturned,’ Ms Finocchiaro said.\n\n‘I don’t want last night to take away from that extraordinary effort.’\n\nRobin Granites, a spokesman for the family and an elder of the Warlpiri Indigenous group, called for calm in the community.\n\n‘It is time now for sorry business, to show respect for our family and have space for grieving and remembering,’ he said in a statement.\n\n‘We need to be strong for each other, we must respect family and cultural practice.’\n\n******Get in touch with our news team by emailing us atwebnews@metro.co.uk.******\n\n**For more stories like this,** check our news page.\n\nComment now Comments \nAdd Metro as a Preferred Source on Google\nAdd as preferred source\n",
  "title": "Man ‘who abducted and killed’ girl, 5, airlifted out of town after he was hunted by vigilantes"
}