In brief
- 1000 days since Baby Ru’s death, no one has been charged.
- Police have previously said three adults remain persons of interest.
- Police said in May they were assessing independent legal advice and had built a “really comprehensive evidential foundation.”
- The IPCA says it has received no complaint or Police notification about the handling of the case.
A toddler dead, no charges laid
Ruthless-Empire Ahipene-Wall, known publicly as Baby Ru, died on 22 October 2023, just days before his second birthday.
Police said post-mortem results confirmed his cause of death was blunt-force trauma and that they believed the injuries were not accidental.
1000 days since, three adults remain persons of interest, but no one has been charged.
In October 2025, Detective Inspector Nick Pritchard said those three adults remained persons of interest and that the person responsible for Baby Ru’s death had not been held to account.
He said Police shared the public’s “immense frustration” and remained committed to ensuring justice was served.
Police told RNZ in May they were assessing independent legal advice and had built what they described as a “really comprehensive evidential foundation” for considering criminal culpability.
No IPCA complaint or notification
Centrist asked the Independent Police Conduct Authority whether it had received a complaint or Police notification about the handling of the unresolved homicide investigation.
The IPCA says it has received no complaint or Police notification.
Police Professional Conduct also told Centrist there is “no correspondence between Police and the IPCA in respect of the ‘Baby Ru’ homicide investigation.”
Police gave that response under the Official Information Act, refusing the request under section 18(e) because the information “does not exist.”
The responses do not mean Police have been inactive. They also do not mean Police were required to notify the IPCA, or that the IPCA should oversee an active homicide investigation.
But they do show no visible IPCA process has been triggered over the handling of the case.
The public-confidence question
The appearance of a stalled investigation does raise a public-confidence question.
When a toddler is killed, known persons of interest remain in the frame, and no charges have been laid years later, is the public being asked to rely entirely on internal Police assurances?
The IPCA has told Centrist it does not have the power to initiate the type of inquiry requested.
Centrist has asked whether the Police Commissioner can refer a matter of this nature to the Authority, and whether seeking such a referral is the appropriate next step.
