Man Arrested for Allegedly Killing GF's Toddler: 'I Think He Hurt My Daughter'

An Oregon man has been arrested for allegedly killing his girlfriend's 2-year-old daughter.

Dison Ruda was arrested in connection to the girl's death more than one year after she died in March 2025, the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office confirmed in a press release on Wednesday, June 10.

"I think he hurt my daughter," the girlfriend told police after she saw her daughter in the hospital, according to a probable cause affidavit viewed by Law & Crime.

The investigation into the girl's death began on March 28, 2025, at 11:47 a.m. when Multnomah County Sheriff's deputies responded to Blue Lake Park in Fairview, Oregon, after they received reports of a man carrying an unresponsive child.

Upon their arrival, deputies found the victim unconscious and not breathing.

It wasn't until one year later on March 16 that the Oregon State Medical Examiner's Office determined her cause of death was homicide.

Detectives worked with the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office to get a court-authorized arrest warrant and they eventually arrested Ruda, 28, around 6 a.m. on June 10 in Portland, Oregon.

Prior to his arrest, Ruda claimed the girl "choked on rice" and suffered an "alleged fall off the steps of a playground slide" before she died, according to the affidavit.

The superintendent at Blue Lake Park saw Ruda carrying the girl and called the police, explaining that she "observed that Ruda was blowing in the child's mouth as he was walking and tried to communicate to him to put the child down to perform CPR."

"He walked back over toward his parked vehicle, a blue Honda Odyssey … before laying the child on the grass," the superintendent added, per the affidavit.

The superintendent said that she approached the girl and "began to administer aid," which was when Ruda told her that the girl choked on rice. "So [the superintendent] did mouth sweep and administered the Heimlich maneuver," the affidavit said. "She did not locate any obstruction."

The affidavit stated that both police and paramedics reported seeing "extreme bruising to the child's chest, neck, and jaw, which were not consistent with choking on food." The girl also had inflamed bruises on her neck and jawline, which "were not caused by lifesaving efforts."

The girl's initial hospital assessment, which was included in the affidavit, said that there was "notable bruising throughout her body" that indicated possible "nonaccidental trauma/strangulation."

Additionally, her CT scan showed "a left-sided subdural hematoma with midline shift and diffuse cerebral edema."

While speaking to police through a Chuukese interpreter, Ruda claimed that he saw the victim climb up the steps of a playground slide "on all fours" and "fall away from them, landing on her forehead from a height of about 6 feet." He also claimed that she "fell into woodchips" and he was unable to wake her up after the fall.

However, medical examiners concluded that Ruda's explanation did not line up with the victim's injuries.

"[The medical examiner] considered literature on short falls in children, the impact-absorbing surface, the existence of blunt traumatic injuries on other body surfaces, including surfaces that are not commonly injured in innocent ways, and the lack of abrasions one would expect to see from fall on woodchips to conclude that the etiology of the brain injury in this case was abusive in nature," the affidavit stated. "He concluded that her presentation and injuries were highly concerning for child physical abuse."

Police said that "months of investigative work" ultimately led to Ruda's arrest.

He has since been charged with second-degree murder, first-degree assault, third-degree assault and first-degree criminal mistreatment. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Ruda is next scheduled to appear in court for his arraignment on Monday, June 22.

If you or someone you know is experiencing child abuse, call or text Child Help Hotline at 1-800-422-4453.

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This story was originally published June 16, 2026 at 10:35 AM.