<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this story contains the image of a person who is deceased.</span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Three Northern Territory child protection staff members have been stood down as the government investigates the circumstances before Kumanjayi Little Baby's alleged murder.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The NT's child protection minister, Robyn Cahill, said she asked the department for information relating to its interactions with the girl's family.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Cahill was reportedly offered a delayed briefing on Friday, where she learned that the NT child protection department had received six reports about Kumanjayi Little Baby's welfare in the weeks before she went missing.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>LIVE UPDATES:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/us-israel-iran-war-live-updates-may-6-donald-trump-latest-world-news-headlines/f734aa28-08d0-4969-92ed-dcad5d03ad31" target="_blank"><strong><span>Trump's 'Project Freedom' was halted due to 'warnings from Iran'</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>NATIONAL:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/isis-brides-return-australia/ae0c5676-c9ec-46e2-9d27-dfce7e46db01" target="_blank"><strong><span>Some 'ISIS brides' will be arrested upon arrival in Australia, AFP confirms</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"They've been stood down while an investigation is underway into actions taken, or not taken, in relation to this case," Cahill told Australian Associated Press.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/kumanjayi-little-baby-three-child-protection-workers-stood-down/da4062fb-f190-4347-a5e6-74df49208dd6" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I am calling for an independent investigation from someone who is removed from the existing situation so we can have total accuracy and be sure that we are getting the information that we need to get to understand how this failure could happen," she earlier told Sky News.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="http://nine.com.au/" target="_blank"><span>Nine.com.au</span></a><span> has contacted the Northern Territory's child protection department for comment.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A full investigation into how the department handled Kumanjayi Little Baby's case will take place and the NT children's commissioner has been asked to run an independent investigation.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Nine.com.au does not suggest any wrongdoing by the child protection staff members, only that they have been stood down.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Kumanjayi Little Baby – the name used in line with cultural tradition after her death – vanished from a home in a town camp in Alice Springs on April 25.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Her disappearance triggered a massive land and air search across central Australia until her body was found on April 30.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Jefferson Lewis, 47, has been accused of murdering the five‑year‑old girl near Alice Springs.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He was expected to appear in Alice Springs Local Court yesterday via video link from custody in Darwin but his appearance was excused.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>MONEY:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/interest-rate-hike-thousands-of-australians-including-full-time-workers-pushed-into-mortgage-stress/85dbe82b-c60d-419f-bea5-b59a15cec190" target="_blank"><strong><span>Damning sign proves thousands of Aussies face a ticking mortgage timebomb</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>No application for bail was made, and the case was adjourned to July 30.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The alleged murder horrified the tight‑knit community, many of whom spent anxious days scouring creek beds and scrub for the missing girl before her body was found in bushland outside the town five days after she disappeared.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Lewis was arrested at another Alice Springs town camp after being beaten unconscious by locals.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Federal Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy told ABC's </span><em><span>7.30</span></em><span> it was important to remember Kumanjayi was very loved by her family, who were in deep mourning and did not want her death to be turned into a political fight.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>For 24/7 crisis support run by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, contact 13YARN (13 92 76).</span></strong></div></div>