I read her name and everything went quiet. Renee Nicole Good was 37 — a devoted mother of three, a poet, a wife, and a woman known for her compassion and kindness. That morning in south Minneapolis began like any other: she dropped her six-year-old son off at school and said goodbye like it was ordinary, never imagining it would be the last time she saw him with a smile. Minutes later, as she sat in her car during a federal immigration enforcement operation, shots rang out. An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent fired into her vehicle, striking her multiple times as she attempted to drive away. Despite being rushed to the hospital, doctors could not save her life — an American citizen, a mother, a neighbor, gone in an instant while still inside her own community.
She was not a threat. Local officials and eyewitnesses say she posed no danger, and there was no indication she was the target of any investigation when the encounter escalated. Her children now live with an absence that should never exist — a six-year-old who will grow up without his mom, and two older children left to carry memories no child should have to keep. Vigils of candles and flowers sprung up where her life ended, a community in shock grappling with how a loving, creative woman could be killed in broad daylight by an officer of the U.S. government.
Questions remain — about what exactly happened, why force was used, and whether accountability will follow. Investigations continue, protests have erupted, and the full story is still unfolding. But one fact is already clear: Renee Nicole Good was a mother who never came home.