‘She was an amazing human being’: Mother identifies woman shot, killed by ICE agent

The woman shot and killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Jan. 7, was identified by her mother as 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good.

Good died just a few blocks from where she lived. A woman who answered the door at Good’s home said the family was unable to speak right now.

Donna Ganger told the Minnesota Star Tribune that her daughter lived in the Twin Cities with her partner. Ganger said the family was notified of the death late Wednesday morning.

“That’s so stupid” that she was killed, Ganger said, after learning some of the circumstances from a reporter. “She was probably terrified.”

Ganger said her daughter is “not part of anything like that at all,” referring to protesters challenging ICE agents.

“Renee was one of the kindest people I’ve ever known,” she said. “She was extremely compassionate. She’s taken care of people all her life. She was loving, forgiving and affectionate. She was an amazing human being.”

An Instagram account that appears to belong to Good describes her as a “poet and writer and wife and mom and shitty guitar strummer from Colorado; experiencing Minneapolis, MN.”

He said Good and his son had a child who is now 6 years old.

“There’s nobody else in his life,” Macklin said. “I’ll drive. I’ll fly. To come and get my grandchild.”

Macklin added that Good had two additional children who he believed lived with her extended family.

Good was an award-winning poet who earned an English degree in 2020 from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va.

“May Renee’s life be a reminder of what unites us: freedom, love and peace,” said university President Brian O. Hemphill in a statement. “My hope is for compassion, healing and reflection at a time that is becoming one of the darkest and most uncertain periods in our nation’s history.”

“When she is not writing, reading or talking about writing,” the post continued, “she has movie marathons and makes messy art.”

Megan Kocher posted on social media that “I met Renee and her wife just a few weeks ago. She fed me tea and cookies at her house while we talked about school stuff.”

Kocher described Good as “such a warm and loving mother. This is tragic beyond words.” She declined to comment further.

Speakers at an evening vigil disclosed few details of Good’s life but were resolute in honoring her as a good neighbor who was protecting others.

“She was peaceful; she did the right thing,” said Jaylani Hussein, executive director of CAIR Minnesota. “She died because she loved her neighbors.”

As they walked around the block, hundreds of people chanted Good’s name.

Mary Radford, 29, was just getting home from work about 7 p.m. and struggled to find a place to park as hundreds of people descended on the neighborhood to mourn Good.

Radford lived next to Good and often saw her and her young son while walking her Australian shepherd, Hazelnut, who she said gets excited every time they walk by Good’s house.

“It’s a beautiful family. They have a son. He’s very sweet. He loves our dog. He always has to go run up and pet and play with her,” she said. “They’re always outside playing.”

The Goods moved in pretty recently, Radford said, but they had “wonderful conversations.”

Radford said through tears that Good was a good neighbor, though their time as neighbors was tragically brief.

“I wish I could have known her more.”