Renee Good's widow asks feds to hand over vehicle late wife was driving when she was shot

Sarah Nelson, Star Tribune on Apr 27, 2026

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MINNEAPOLIS — The widow of Renee Good has asked a court to order the federal government to hand over the vehicle her spouse was driving when she was fatally shot by an immigration agent in January.

In a motion filed Friday, April 24, Rebecca Good argued the U.S. government’s refusal to turn over her and her late wife’s Honda Pilot inhibits her pursuit of a probe into the shooting as well as Minnesota’s own investigation.

“An armed, masked agent of the federal government killed Becca’s partner at a moment when Renee posed no meaningful threat to him. Such an apparent gross abuse of power by a federal official mandates a thorough and complete inquiry into his conduct,” the motion read.

Renee Good was shot and killed Jan. 7 by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Jonathan Ross in Minneapolis while the Trump administration’s deployment of thousands of immigration agents, dubbed Operation Metro Surge, was underway. In videos of the exchange, Renee Good was seen behind the wheel of the Honda and driving away when she was fatally shot. The administration quickly claimed Renee Good attempted to run the agent over, which the motion denies.

The state of Minnesota has accused the administration’s top law enforcement agencies of withholding evidence in the case of Renee Good’s death. A joint investigation by state and federal agencies was agreed upon shortly after the shooting but state investigators said they were later told to stand down. The administration previously said the killing would not be investigated.

A lawyer for the Good family, Kevin Riach, filed the motion and said it is “unreasonable for the government to at once decline to investigate” Ross while preventing Minnesota officials and Rebecca Good from accessing the vehicle.

“The government has had ample opportunity to obtain whatever evidence it desires from the vehicle. It has by all accounts declined that opportunity,” the motion said. “Becca and the State of Minnesota have not had any opportunity to examine the vehicle to ensure that there is a complete and accurate public accounting of Renee’s killing.”

Riach said numerous attempts to contact the FBI and federal agencies about the return of the vehicle have been unsuccessful. They claim the vehicle remains shrink-wrapped and unexamined at an FBI storage facility in Brooklyn Center.

The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to the Minnesota Star Tribune’s inquiry about the motion.

Riach further argued in the motion that the government’s refusal to turn over the vehicle could result in evidence degrading every day, saying blood on surfaces can “flake off” and tires can deflate over time, affecting the accuracy of bullet trajectories.

“The vehicle represents core evidence in any inquiry into the shooting — for instance, damage to the car, the location and entry angle of bullet holes, and the location of blood spatter and other biological evidence is highly relevant in assessing Ross’s positioning during each shot,” the filing said.

Riach asked a judge to hold a hearing on the matter.

Concerns over evidence preservation were raised by Minnesota officials again after the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti in south Minneapolis by federal agents. The state quickly sought a temporary restraining order to prevent federal agencies from destroying evidence at the scene. A judge quickly granted the request.

On March 24, Minnesota officials filed their most drastic legal maneuver yet to gain access to federal evidence from the shootings during Operation Metro Surge via a lawsuit in Washington, D.C.

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