WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this story includes the name and image of an Indigenous person who has passed away.
This article may be distressing to some readers.
A spokesperson from the family of Kumanjayi Little Baby has appealed for calm across Central Australia following violent scenes at an Alice Springs hospital, which was treating the man suspected of involvement in the five-year-old's disappearance and death.
"It is time now for Sorry Business, to show respect for our family and to have a space and a time for grieving and remembering of her, and to time that we lost," Walpiri Elder Robin Granites, who identifies as the child's grandfather, told NITV News in an interview on Saturday.
"Everyone is feeling very upset emotionally, emotions are very high — I understand that ... We are feeling angry and hurt at what has happened," Granites said.
However, now was not the time "to be a hero on social media or to make trouble", he said, adding that people from communities around Alice Springs should travel to the town for Sorry Business but "not for anything else".
He said he hoped that people would respect the family's wishes for Sorry Business — a period of collective mourning in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities — to remain small and carried out in cooperation with the family.
He said a public vigil would be held on Thursday next week at Alice Spring's Anzac Oval and members of the public would be welcome to attend that event.
On Thursday night, several hundred people gathered outside Alice Springs hospital as news emerged that Jefferson Lewis, the 47-year-old man suspected of abducting and murdering Kumanjayi Little Baby, was being treated there.
Four ambulances were taken off the road and crews went into lockdown for about five hours as the riot escalated outside the hospital. Bins and vegetation were also set on fire and some nearby businesses were damaged.
One woman was arrested for allegedly attempting to set alight a police car and had been charged with attempted arson and riot charges, Northern Territory Police said in a statement on Saturday afternoon.
Lewis was subsequently airlifted to Darwin and is expected to be charged with murdering the child.
'We need your support'
Granites also thanked the wider community for the flow of tributes to the family from across Australia.
"Whoever is watching: please, we need your support and your prayers and your wishes."
The body of a girl, which police believe to be Kumanjayi Little Baby, was discovered at around midday on Thursday by police approximately 5km from Alice Springs' Old Timers town camp, the place she was last seen on Sunday.
"What has happened this week is not our way. Our children are precious, of course," Granites said.
He said Kumanjayi Little Baby's young mother had been "hiding away" and the experience had been "so terrible for her".
This article was produced in collaboration with NITV News with reporting by Emma Kellaway and Josh van Staden.
Readers seeking support can ring Lifeline crisis support on 13 11 14 or text 0477 13 11 14, visit lifeline.org.au. Resources for young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders can be found at Headspace: Yarn Safe.
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