Vigils Held Across Australia Following Death of Five-Year-Old Girl in Alice Springs

Thousands of people gathered at vigils held across Australia last night in honour of Kumanjayi Little Baby, a five-year-old girl from Alice Springs whose body was found on the outskirts of the town one week before the vigils. At the vigil in Alice Springs, Leanne Liddle, the executive director of cultural reform at NT Police, read a statement on behalf of the girl's mother.

The mother, a Christian, thanked the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit for gifting her with a beautiful baby girl, choosing her to be the mother, and for the precious time she had as her mother on earth.

"Your support, prayers and love have provided me with great comfort at this difficult time," the statement said. "I want you all to know that my heart is broken into a million pieces. " The mother described how Kumanjayi Little Baby loved cuddling puppies, playing games on her mother's phone, watching Bluey and Masha and the Bear, listening to Rose and Bruno Mars, APT, and Golden by K-Pop Demon Hunters, and playing Minecraft with her big brother.

As a little baby, Kumanjayi Little Baby would smile when she watched Cocomelon. She was called a little princess who loved the colour pink and all the colours of the rainbow, and she loved going to kindy when she was older. The mother asked that her daughter's short life not be used by politicians for reasons that do not honour and respect her.

She stated it is wrong for people to use her pain and sorrow to cause violence or damage to property or cause injury to police or paramedics like they did last week in Alice Springs. "We must remember that it was the police and other first responders who searched hard to find my little baby," the statement continued.

Instead, the mother wants her daughter remembered as a pretty girl in pink who was truly loved by her, Ramsiah and her family.

She asked everyone to let her, Ramsiah, their family and the nation grieve without any judgement. The mother thanked the Chief Minister, the Northern Territory Police Force, Aboriginal liaison officers, volunteers and organisations who helped search day and night for her baby girl. She also thanked the Australian people for grieving with her, Ramsiah and her wider family.

The mother is aware her tragedy has touched people outside of Australia and thanked them. She asked people to look up to the night sky and find the brightest star where Kumanjayi Little Baby is now in heaven. She asked everyone to take care of their little ones.

The statement was signed with love from Kumanjayi Little Baby's mother and her son Ramsiah. Rachel Neary, a grief and trauma specialist with more than 15 years' experience based in Central Australia, said the vigils demonstrated a moment of collective grief.

She said many people feel they have a connection with this story whether they know the family personally, have worked with family or extended family members, or were involved in the search.

Neary said the vigils should be about bearing witness to each other's sadness and feelings and processing the tragedy of the last week. She said the town of Mparntwe/Alice Springs is feeling really confused and really sad right now, and if you walk around Mparntwe/Alice Springs right now it feels quiet, it feels like a ghost town, and it feels like we're all in sorry business.

Neary said she felt a deficit story was being told about Alice Springs.

She said the community had come together and this is a story of strength, of people coming together and being really generous with each other. Abc reported the details of the vigils, the mother's full statement and Neary's observations.