Ruthless-Empire homicide: Who lived at the house where ‘Baby Ru’ was fatally injured?

The Poole St house in Taita, Lower Hutt, where Ruthless-Empire lived. Inset L-R: Storm Wall (Ruthless-Empire's mum), Rosie Morunga and Dylan Ross. Photo / Mark Mitchell

There were three people living at the home where toddler Ruthless-Empire was violently injured - but more than a week later, police are yet to charge anyone with his killing.

The Herald can reveal the three people who stayed in the Lower Hutt home are Rosie Morunga, Dylan Ross, and Ruthless-Empire’s mother, Storm Angel Wall.

Ruthless-Empire died at Hutt Hospital just days before his second birthday after suffering injuries from “blunt force trauma” up to 12 hours earlier, police said last week.

Police were investigating at the property on Poole St, Taitā last week after the toddler was taken, unresponsive, to hospital. The house had several items of furniture and baby toys on the front lawn, as well as obscenities written on the windows.

Police upgraded the investigation to a homicide inquiry on Thursday after initially reporting the matter as an unexplained death.

Ruthless-Empire died just a few days before his 2nd birthday.

Storm Angel Wall, the toddler's mother, had come to stay at the property.

Detective Inspector Nick Pritchard told media later that day that the child had multiple injuries.

“This level of violence toward a child is difficult to fathom,” Pritchard said.

“He was an innocent child who should’ve been safe and loved, and should not have died as he did.

“As part of ongoing enquiries, we are looking into the background with Oranga Tamariki and other enquiries, engaging with other family members to try and build a picture in the weeks that led up to this event.”

Police have spoken with the people understood to have been present when the child was injured, and said three adults were considered persons of interest. One was a direct relative and the two others were part of the extended family.

Pritchard said they had spoken with the three people with “varying degrees of engagement” but are continuing to encourage them to come forward and provide information.

”We’re engaging with them, we’re in contact with them, and working with them the best we can to ensure that we can get as much information from them ultimately to find out what happened to Ru on Sunday,” he said at the press conference.

The Herald understands the Poole St address was the home of Morunga and Ross, who are a couple, and that Wall had come to stay with Ruthless-Empire.

Rosie Morunga is one of the people who lived at the property.

Dylan Ross lived at the house with his partner, Rosie Morunga.

Morunga’s social media posts are littered with comments from members of the public asking what happened to the toddler, and demanding justice.

At last week’s press conference, police confirmed Ruthless-Empire was the only child staying in the Taitā property.

Wall, Morunga, and Ross have been contacted for comment.

What we know so far

Ruthless-Empire’s mother originally posted on Facebook the day after his death saying the toddler had died after choking on his breakfast.

A relative told the Herald the boy was claimed to have been found with a wet wipe in his mouth.

He was taken to hospital about 10.30am on Sunday, and died in hospital - but police later said an autopsy confirmed Ruthless-Empire’s death was a result of blunt force trauma, and there was no evidence he had ingested wet wipes or that they had contributed to his death.

His great-aunt, Sarah Reremoana, said she was “numb” after hearing what happened to the little boy.

“I probably had like 5000 decibels of a yell and a scream,” she said of the moment she found out he had suffered blunt force trauma.

“My hands just banged the table. He was just an innocent baby that did not deserve to be treated this way.”

Reremoana, who raised the little boy from birth until he moved to Hamilton to be with his mother in June, said the family were “broken into so many billions of pieces”.

Police today confirmed they were continuing to investigate, but could not provide any updates at this stage.

A Givealittle page started by Ruthless-Empire’s uncle, Ngatanahira Reremoana, was temporarily closed by Givelittle while it underwent moderation. The page was reopened today, with just over $1000 raised so far to go towards funeral costs. The funds go to a verified bank account for Tipene Funerals.

Melissa Nightingale is a Wellington-based reporter who covers crime, justice, and news in the capital. She joined the Herald in 2016 and has worked as a journalist for 10 years.