Baby Ru homicide: No arrests, but persons of interest continue to engage with police
Thursday, 2 November 2023
Two weeks on from his death, police have yet to make any arrests over the death of Wellington toddler Ruthless-Empire.
However, in a statement released on Thursday police say the three people of interest are continuing to engage with them.
Ruthless-Empire, or ‘Baby Ru’ died on October 22 – just shy of his second birthday – after he was taken to Hutt Hospital in Wellington in an unresponsive state.
Police said he died of blunt force trauma and had serious injuries and bruising on his body. They said the injuries were not accidental, and believe they were inflicted up to 12 hours before he died.
They are asking anyone with information to come forward.
There were three persons of interest who were thought to be at the house at the time; Ru’s mother, Storm Wall and two members of extended whānau.
“He was an innocent child. He should have been safe and loved and should not have died as he did,” Detective Inspector Nick Pritchard said in a press conference on Friday.
'This level of violence towards a child is difficult to fathom.”
On Thursday, Pritchard said he understood the “immense feeling and emotion in the community about has taken place, and can reassure the public we are taking this incredibly seriously”.
“A homicide investigation is by its very nature methodical and detailed, and establishing the facts can take some time.
“Like Baby Ru’s wider whānau and the community, police are determined to establish exactly what happened, and to form a picture of events that led to his death”.
The whānau who looked after Baby Ru for half his life broke their silence on Wednesday, speaking of their heartbreak over the death.
Uncle Ngatanahira Reremoana said Baby Ru lived on and off with his family in Taupō and said Ru would also stay with his grandmother in Wellington.
Reremoana was concerned about Ru being “in and out” of drug houses when he was in Hamilton and said he made a formal complaint with Oranga Tamariki in December 2022. Stuff has seen a copy of an email sent on December 26.
“I wanted to take the baby back to Taupō,” Reremoana told Stuff.
He said the ministry designated with protecting children didn’t intervene.
“I do believe Oranga Tamariki let us down”.
Oranga Tamariki did not directly address questions from Stuff about a complaint from Reremoana.
When asked again to verify whether Reremoana had laid a complaint, OT said they were unable to confirm, citing privacy.
In a general statement in response to questioning from Stuff, chief executive of Oranga Tamariki Chappie Te Kani said Ru’s death was weighing heavily on his mind.
We are actively working alongside our partner agencies to piece together what, if any, support Baby Ru and his whānau were receiving at the time of his death, and if interventions could have occurred.
“We are in the process of thoroughly reviewing every interaction and decision that was made in relation to Baby Ru and his whānau, with the oversight of our Chief Social Worker Peter Whitcombe. We must protect everyone’s privacy and we are currently not able to go into details”.
“Whenever a child is killed Oranga Tamariki staff feel it deeply.”
He confirmed Ru was not in their custody or care at the time of his death.
On Tuesday, Oranga Tamariki confirmed to Stuff that Baby Ru did have an ID number in CYRAS – the agency’s case management system. However, the agency was not willing to comment on the nature of its involvement with the child.
Oranga Tamariki’s chief social worker Peter Whitcombe says there are tens of thousands of children in the ministry’s system.
“An ID number will be assigned if there is any kind of concern raised with us about a child. It does not necessarily mean that we have been involved in a child’s life.”
Stuff also approached Kelvin Davis for comment about the uncle’s complaint. However, the Minister for Children said it would not be appropriate for him to comment on the basis he is in the role in a caretaker capacity, while a new government is formed.
Reremoana’s family continued to be part of Ru’s life and checked on him despite a difficult relationship with his grandmother. Ru was given back to his mother in July. His father lives in Auckland.
Grandmother Ahipene-Wall knew the man police termed a person of interest in the case, because he had lived next door in Hamilton before moving to Poole St in Lower Hutt.
Reremoana said Ahipene-Wall and her daughter’s relationship broke down, and she arranged for Ru to be taken to Wellington around three weeks ago.
Ru’s Taupo whānau were not told where Ru was. Reremoana said they would have immediately uplifted Ru had they known where he was, as they didn’t believe the toddler would have been safe.
On the Saturday night when police think Ru’s injuries occurred, his mother had put him to bed at 7pm and then had a shower. She believed he was asleep and didn’t hear anything. It wasn’t until the next morning that she discovered something was terribly wrong, according to Reremoana.