Baby Ru homicide: Infighting and finger-pointing in whānau of toddler killed by blunt force trauma
Monday, 30 October 2023
Whānau of the Lower Hutt toddler who was killed by blunt force trauma is divided as bitter infighting over who was responsible plays out on social media.
While the family are yet to engage with media, they have been slinging mud at each other since Ruthless-Empire was taken to Hutt Hospital in Wellington at 10.30am on October 22 in an unresponsive state. He had several injuries and bruising. Efforts to revive him were unsuccessful.
Police believe he was injured 12 hours before he was taken to hospital.
On Sunday, an inhabitant of the Poole St household where Ruthless-Empire sustained fatal injuries vented on Instagram.
“No words can explain the pain I’m feeling f….. over you lying like your family is perfect b….. Use [sic] abused him n use never trusted his mother. F… use speak the truth motherf…..”.
“Everyone that knows me knows our kids are our everything, and we would never do anything like this b….. her family are saying”, they said in another post.
Later, they said their family would get justice for Ru.
Last Wednesday, the infant’s mother, Storm Angel Wall, claimed on social media 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, 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.”
One of the Poole St house inhabitans posted there would be a “blessing” of the property on Monday, following Ru’s tangi in Taupō on Saturday.
Last Thursday, Detective Inspector Nick Pritchard said the infant’s injuries were not accidental. He said police were talking to three people of interest.
Stuff understands those three people of interest include a blood relative and two members of extended whānau.
Police are looking into the history of the whānau, including working with Oranga Tamariki, to see if there have been any other instances of violence.
“He was an innocent child. He should have been safe and loved and should not have died as he did,” Pritchard said at a media stand-up. ”This level of violence towards a child is difficult to fathom.”
Previously, The Post revealed a person connected to Ru who lived at the same address, was facing a number of violence charges and had appeared in court for breaching intensive supervision conditions. They had been granted bail in September.
Sources have since confirmed that person had gang links, was known to be violent and had served time in prison. It’s understood probation service officials considered them to be a high risk and had fears for their own staff's safety.
Wall had only lived at the address for a few weeks. According to her Facebook page, she previously lived in Hamilton, and had only gained back custody of Ru in June.
In a social media post in July, Wall said she lost a second child due to domestic violence and said she wasn’t the best mother figure, but she was making changes.
Post-mortem findings appear to contradict mother Wall’s version of events as they show Ru was injured at around 10.30pm on Saturday night.
However, on a social media post on Monday, Wall said Ru had “recently passed away” due to him being “non-responsive due to him choking on his breakfast”.
“And clogs came out. I have tried with all will and power to respond to all helps (sic) to act for him but he is resting now in Wellington.”
Stuff understands Ru’s father lives in Dunedin.
On Friday, the Department of Internal Affairs confirmed Ru’s birth had not been registered due to issues around his name.
On Monday morning, a police spokesperson said there were no updates on the investigation.