A four week coronial inquest has been set down to investigate the death of a young man at an Alice Springs supermarket last year. Family members and supporters gathered on the courthouse lawns in Alice Springs for the coronial directions hearing into the death of Kumanjay White, where the timeframe for the inquest was laid out.
Northern Territory Coroner Elizabeth Armitage will oversee the inquest, which has been scheduled to run from April 5th to April 30th next year. The first hearing is set to take place on April 5th in Alice Springs, opening a process that the family has been waiting on since the death.
Kumanjay White, a 24 year old Warlpiri man, died after being restrained by police officers in a Coles supermarket in May 2025. His death in custody drew widespread attention and sparked vigils and protests across the country in the months that followed.
A number of parties have been granted a role in the inquest. They include representatives for an officer involved in the incident, the Northern Territory police, Mr White's disability carers, the public trustee, Coles supermarkets, NT Health, and the family's lawyer, George Newhouse. The breadth of those involved reflects the many questions surrounding the circumstances of the death.
To date, no charges have been laid over the incident, a point that has fuelled frustration among Mr White's relatives. They say they are still waiting for answers about what happened and why the matter has not progressed further through the justice system more than a year on.
Speaking on the courthouse lawns, Mr White's grandfather, Ned Jumperjibha Hargraves, questioned why prosecutors had not yet acted. He said the family had not been given any reasons and had not been shown the evidence, insisting that they have a right to know what occurred. The inquest is now expected to provide the forum in which those questions are examined.