Alice Springs community rallies for baby left with fractured skull after alleged home invasion, assault

The Red Centre is rallying behind an eight-week-old girl whose skull was fractured in an alleged home invasion and assault that shocked the nation, as she remains in hospital in Adelaide.

The two-month-old baby, hospitalised with a fractured skull in Adelaide after it was flown out of Alice Springs for treatment on Wednesday, December 11, 2024. Picture: GoFundMe

The Red Centre community is pulling out all the stops to raise funds for an eight-week-old little girl and her family, after an alleged home invasion left her with a fractured skull.

A GoFundMe is set to overtake its initial goal of raising $5000 for Alice Springs’ Siguenza family, after the two-month-old baby and her mother were allegedly assaulted during an aggravated burglary in their Larapinta home on Wednesday.

NT Police have accused two teenage boys of entering the Bokhara St home at 2.30pm, where the mother was inside alongside her four kids.

During the invasion, one boy allegedly struck the mother with a metal pole, injuring the little girl in the process.

The baby was left with a fractured skull and was transferred from Alice Springs to Adelaide, where she remains in a critical but stable condition.

The teenage boys are alleged to have stolen her mother’s purse and keys before fleeing.

They were arrested a short time later

The boys, aged 16 and 17, fronted court for the first time in relation to the alleged assault on Thursday.

Both were placed on remand to appear again in February next year. 

Bokhara St, Larapinta, Alice Springs, Northern Territory. Picture: Gera Kazakov

It was reported in national broadhseet the Australian both boys had been granted bail a combined 35 times and had previously been charged with about 300 offences, collectively.

In the wake of the shocking alleged assault, the Alice Springs Baseball Association organised a bake sale and a GoFundMe to raise money for the family.

The bake sale will be held at the Alice Springs Baseball Field on Speed St, at 6pm to 9pm on Friday, December 13.

All funds raised from the bake sale and the GoFundMe will go directly to the family, the baseball association said in Facebook post.

The father of the baby — who is currently in hospital in Adelaide – said the GoFundMe is getting “crazy traction that never would have been expected”.

The incident sent shockwaves across the country and put the spotlight once more on troubling alleged incidents of crime in the Red Centre Capital.

In response to the alleged attack, Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro and NT Police Commissioner Michael Murphy flew to Alice Springs – where they were heckled upon arrival.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called the attack “horrific” and “unspeakable”, with his thoughts going out to the family.

He said he was “overwhelmed and flabbergasted” by the support from the Alice Springs community.