Rubbish bins searches in middle of the night at Baby Ru house
Saturday, 25 November 2023
Early on Saturday morning, people searched the rubbish bins at the house where Baby Ru suffered fatal head injuries, a neighbour says.
Dylan Ross and Rosie Morunga moved out of the Poole St Kainga Ora property where Baby Ru and his mother Storm Angel Wall were also living, not long after he died in suspicious circumstances.
People were at the house at 1.55am on Saturday, according to a neighbour. The neighbour said they and two others were searching the rubbish bins, and left after 15 minutes.
He heard an unidentified woman say “are you checking that bin?” The neighbour then reported the middle of the night visit on November 25 to police.
The toddler, who was initially named Ruthless-Empire Souljah Reign Rhind Shephard Wall by his parents, suffered blunt forced trauma on the morning of October 22 when he was taken in an unresponsive state to Hutt Valley Hospital, just days before his second birthday.
Detective Inspector Nick Pritchard previously said Ru died from blunt force trauma that was not accidental. Police have launched a homicide investigation.
Police have confirmed the hard drive for a security camera is missing from the Poole St house.
Previously, Pritchard appealed for sightings of a light-coloured Nissan Sedan – with the licence plate TE6972 – between the morning of 22 October and afternoon of 24 October across the Wellington region.
Three people of interest went to the hospital with Baby Ru in the car, Dylan Ross, Rosie Morunga, and Storm Angel Wall.
Pritchard said the car was driven back to the Poole St property in Lower Hutt and was used to remove items that were “directly relevant” to the homicide investigation.
The car was then used to conceal or dispose of the items, he said, and police seized it for forensic examination.
He couldn’t say who was in the car at the time the items were removed.
On Friday, three people were charged after supporters of Rosie Morunga, allegedly pushed journalists into bushes outside a Wellington court.
One of the journalists, who was shoved, described it as their 'closest call in many years outside court'.
She heard yelling from the group while leaving the building, then court security staff rushed past to intervene. The two journalists were on the ground, she said. They were claiming to have had their phones taken and were taken back inside by security.
A police spokesperson said a 48-year-old woman was charged with assault and a 25-year-old woman was charged with taking a document for pecuniary advantage, assault and theft.
A 30-year-old man was also charged with taking a document for pecuniary advantage and theft.
They were all due to appear in the Hutt Valley District Court on Friday.
Last week, Ru’s birth certificate was issued two years after his birth. He will now be known as Nga Reo Te Huatahi Reremoana Ahipene-Wall, after his great-great-grandfather, Te Huatahi Reremoana, who was a well-known member of the Ratana Church.
Three days ago, Ru’s Uncle, Ngatanahira Reremoana marked a month since his nephew’s passing with an emotional post on social media.
“We are all still broken inside. I know our whānau are crying ourselves to sleep, having the deepest regrets, sleepless nights to not even eating. I guess it's all part of the grieving process. I wish we didn’t have to grieve for our baby, but you were the one who was taken from us in a vicious way,” he wrote.
“When that call came, me and my sister weren’t even talking. I think it was about three months since July when you returned to your mother. We were trying to take you home but no , Mum decided to come and pick you up. What could we do? We were only Uncle and Nan. We spent all your lil life trying to protect you, but people didn’t see the bigger picture”.
“You fly high my lil man…we will get those answers soon”.
*This story was updated on Saturday as there is uncertainty as to who was at the house.