Tributes have been paid to "happy and bubbly baby Ru", who police say died shortly after being taken to Hutt Hospital in an "unresponsive state" on Sunday.
An investigation has been launched after the toddler was taken to the hospital around 12.30pm and "tragically" died a short time later, according to a police spokesperson.
"An investigation team is working to establish the circumstances leading to the infant's death," police said.
"Police are unable to confirm where the incident occurred however as part of ongoing inquiries, a search is being conducted at an address in Poole Street."
The death is currently being treated as "unexplained". Police said that it was a private vehicle that brought the child to the hospital and not an ambulance.
A spokesperson for his family told 1News that "our whānau are devastated".
“Ruthless-Empire had a happy and bubbly personality, He would always brighten up any room with his bright smile," they wrote.
"Our whānau are all devastated from this news, we received this news whilst our church bells were ringing on Sunday 10.55am, that our Baby Ru had grown his wings and headed home to Torona o Ihoa."
They added: "We would like for our Baby Ru to leave a legacy in his name and for all other whānau’s to learn from this.
"We’ve had to learn the hard way and go through this, Ruthless was turning two tomorrow and was going to be celebrating it with whānau and his friends.
Forensic teams have been looking through a house in Hutt Valley this morning. (Source: 1News)
"Our whānau will never forget this little boy he was our soul but he was taken from us. Its time for our whānau to mourn as we wait for our boy to be released from his postmortem assessment.
"Piki Te Ora, Piki Te Kaha, Piki Te Maramatanga, Me te rangimarietanga”
Earlier today, Kāinga Ora's Greater Wellington regional director Vicki McLaren confirmed to 1News a death had occurred at one of its properties.
"Our team was very sad to learn this morning of what police are describing as an unexplained death at one of our properties in Lower Hutt," she said.
"We will be working alongside other agencies to understand the needs of the whānau to ensure they get the support they need at this extremely difficult time.
"We won't be commenting further as police are still investigating the circumstances surrounding the death and we want to protect the privacy of our customer and their whānau."
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