Whānau pay tribute to toddler 'taken from them' days before his birthday

Tuesday, 24 October 2023

Whānau of a baby who died in Lower Hutt over the weekend in “unexplained” circumstances say the child was only days away from celebrating his second birthday.

A police investigation is underway after the baby, named by family as Ruthless-Empire, was taken to Hutt Hospital at around 12.30pm on Sunday, October 22, in an unresponsive state, and died a short time later.

An investigation team is working to establish the circumstances leading to the infant’s death, a police spokesperson said.

Ngatanahira Reremoana, Ruthless-Empire’s uncle, said the whānau were devastated by the news of his death, and the child had been due to celebrate his second birthday this week.

“Ruthless-Empire had a happy and bubbly personality. He would always brighten up any room with his bright smile.

“We received the news of his death whilst our Church Bells were ringing on Sunday, that our Baby Ru had grown his wings.”

Reremoana said he didn’t want to disclose information about his nephew’s death due to the ongoing police investigation.

“The information provided by the detectives in charge, states that the case is classed as suspect.

“We would like for our baby Ru to leave a legacy in his name and for all other whānau’s to learn from this.

“We’ve had to learn the hard way and go through this. Ruthless was turning 2 tomorrow and was going to be celebrating it with whānau and friends.”

The family were still waiting for Ruthless-Empire’s body to be released back to them following a post-mortem at Wellington Hospital.

A Givealittle page has now been set up by the family. The page said any funds raised would go towards funeral costs for the baby.

The police originally said on Tuesday a homicide investigation had been started but later corrected this to say the death was being treated as unexplained.