By Helen Coster
Jan 8 (Reuters) – Renee Nicole Good, a Minnesota mother of three, was shot and killed in her car by a federal agent in Minneapolis on Wednesday, sparking protests and intense debate over the circumstances of her killing.
Here’s what we know about Good so far:
POET FROM COLORADO, STUDIED IN VIRGINIA
Good graduated from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, with an English degree in December 2020, according to a statement from the university.
She won a first-grade poetry prize, according to a 2020 Facebook post from the school’s English Department, which described her as coming from Colorado Springs, Colorado. “When she’s not writing, reading, or talking about writing, she has movie marathons and makes messy art with her daughter and two sons,” the Facebook post said.
The Washington Post reported that Good’s daughter is 15 and her two sons are 12 and 6.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, issued a statement on Wednesday citing reports that she was from the Colorado Springs area and said “his thoughts are with Renee’s family, especially her young son, friends, and loved ones including those in Colorado.”
NEW TO MINNEAPOLIS
Her ex-husband, who asked not to be named out of concern for the safety of their children, told the Associated Press that Good and her current partner moved to Minneapolis last year from Kansas City, Missouri. Her ex-husband said Good and her current partner had just dropped off her 6-year-old son at school on Wednesday and were driving home when they encountered ICE agents.
The biography for a private Instagram account that appeared to belong to Good described her as “Poet and writer and wife and mother and shitty guitar strummer from Colorado; experiencing Minneapolis, MN.”
Good lived in Minneapolis with her partner, Good’s mother, Donna Ganger, told the Minnesota Star Tribune.
“Renee was one of the kindest people I’ve ever known,” Ganger told the paper. “She was extremely compassionate. She cared about people her whole life. She was loving, forgiving and affectionate. She was an amazing person.”
FAMILY MEMBERS SAY SHE WASN’T A PROTESTER
Ganger said her daughter “wasn’t part of anything like this,” referring to protesters challenging ICE agents.
Her ex-husband said that he never knew her to take part in the protests.
(Reporting by Helen Coster in New York; Editing by Donna Bryson and Matthew Lewis)