On a bitter January evening in Minneapolis, neighbors gathered along Portland Avenue holding candles and chanting a name they were only beginning to understand the weight of. They came not for answers, which were still unclear, but to honor a woman they knew as gentle, present, and deeply human. That woman was Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old poet, mother, and neighbor who was shot and killed on January 7, 2026, just blocks from her home during an encounter involving ICE agents. As news spread, grief turned to disbelief. Her mother, Donna Ganger, rejected claims that Renee posed a threat, describing her instead as kind, compassionate, and terrified in her final moments. Neighbors echoed that image, recalling Renee playing outside with her young son, always warm, always engaged. She left behind children, a partner, and a family already marked by loss after the death of her former husband in 2023. For those who knew her, the tragedy felt senseless—a life rooted in care and creativity abruptly taken.
As vigils spread from Minneapolis to other cities, attention shifted from how Renee died to how she lived. Community leaders described her as peaceful and principled, someone who showed up for others simply because she believed in her neighbors. Beyond her family life, Renee left behind a body of poetry that revealed an intensely thoughtful inner world—one that wrestled with faith, science, doubt, and wonder. Her award-winning poem, “On Learning to Dissect Fetal Pigs,” blended biology with belief, memory with skepticism, asking whether knowledge and wonder could coexist. Those words now feel like a quiet legacy, offering a fuller portrait than any headline. While officials continue to debate narratives and responsibility, those who mourn Renee insist on remembering her not as a symbol or accusation, but as a woman who loved deeply, questioned honestly, and left behind both children and verses that still speak.
