Mother says toddler was murdered as police get ready to front the media

Thursday, 26 October 2023

The mother of a toddler who died in unexplained circumstances is alleging he was murdered ahead of a police media conference this afternoon.

Ruthless-Empire died just days away from his second birthday after he was taken to Hutt Hospital in Wellington on Sunday in an unresponsive state at about 12.30pm.

He died a short time later.

Police have previously said the death is unexplained but will hold a media stand-up at 3pm today where further information is expected to be revealed.

Family have confirmed to Stuff that baby wipes were found in Ruthless-Empire’s mouth.

On Wednesday night, his mother posted on Facebook that her son had been murdered.

“And names aren’t going there via public cos whānau want me to avenge, want me to be mad, want me to do so much.”

She said whānau had been accusing her of killing her son, whose full name is Ruthless-Empire Souljah-Reign Rhind Shepherd Wall, and she had received death threats, but they didn’t know the true story.

“My son was everything to me and y’all already knew my son was murdered.”

“I am broken of all brokens. I’ve cried more than any soul could cry so know my status from now.”

A neighbour of the Poole St property in Taitā where Ruthless- Empire lived, said the neighbourhood was usually quiet and the community reasonably tight-knit.

But it had been a “nightmare” since new tenants moved into the Kāinga Ora property in January.

“Everyone on the streets looks after each other, but everyone collectively hated them,” he said.

The neighbour, who asked not to be named, said he heard yelling and screaming from the property earlier on Sunday morning before his neighbours appeared to jump into a car, “screeching away” down the road.

Just days earlier, he noticed the rubbish put out on their front lawn.

The commotion, however, was not unusual after about 10 months of living next door to the tenants, he said.

A woman and her partner had moved in, but recently, the woman’s cousin and her nephew had been staying at the house.

He said the woman was often violent with their four dogs, constantly chained up at the property. Almost every other day, he could hear screaming and yelling, he said.

At one stage, the woman tried to beat the neighbour himself with a trampoline leg, while on another occasion, she threatened to steal his car and burn his house down.

He had called the police about 15 times and Kāinga Ora about 30 times, but nothing had been done.

The property had renovations done before the couple moved in but was wrecked within weeks, he said.

The carpet had been ripped up, window framing broken, and the house lined with rubbish strewn everywhere.

The man said the cousin mostly kept to herself, and he had seen the toddler cycling up and down the driveway last week.

On Tuesday, 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.

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