Wife of former KC resident killed by ICE saw shooting: ‘We had whistles. They had guns’
Renee Macklin Good was supporting her neighbors in Minneapolis on Wednesday when she was shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, her wife said in a statement Friday.
“On Wednesday, January 7th, we stopped to support our neighbors,” Becca Good said in the statement, which was shared with Minnesota Public Radio News.
“We had whistles. They had guns.”
Becca Good, who witnessed the shooting, did not provide further details about the incident but focused her statement on describing her 37-year-old partner and the life they’d been building together.
She also expressed her gratitude “to all the people who have reached out from across the country and around the world to support our family.”
“This kindness of strangers is the most fitting tribute because if you ever encountered my wife, Renee Nicole Macklin Good, you know that above all else, she was kind,” Becca Good wrote. “In fact, kindness radiated out of her.
“Renee sparkled. She literally sparkled. I mean, she didn’t wear glitter but I swear she had sparkles coming out of her pores. All the time. You might think it was just my love talking but her family said the same thing. Renee was made of sunshine.”
Renee Good died Wednesday after the ICE agent fired into her Honda Pilot on a residential street during a targeted immigration operation. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said at a news conference that one of the agents’ vehicles had become stuck in the snow and they were attempting to push it out when Good “weaponized her vehicle” and tried to run over them. Noem called it an act of domestic terrorism and called the shooting self-defense.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz disputed the government’s claims. They said the videos showed Good driving away from agents, not trying to hit them. At a Wednesday news conference, Frey angrily told ICE to “get the f— out of Minneapolis.”
The shooting sparked shock and outrage and left Renee Good’s 6-year-old son an orphan.
Renee and Becca Good had ties to Kansas City, living in the Waldo area in 2023 and 2024. Court records show that Renee filed a petition in Jackson County Circuit Court to change her last name from Renee Nicole Macklin to Renee Nicole Macklin Good. Her stated reason for the name change: “I want to share a name with my partner.”
The court document said Renee had three children, who at the time of the filing were ages 13, 10 and 3. The two older children lived in Colorado, and the youngest lived in Kansas City, it said.
Becca Good said in her statement Friday that Renee “lived by an overarching belief: there is kindness in the world and we need to do everything we can to find it where it resides and nurture it where it needs to grow.”
“Renee was a Christian who knew that all religions teach the same essential truth: we are here to love each other, care for each other, and keep each other safe and whole,” she said.
The couple, she said, was raising their son “to believe that no matter where you come from or what you look like, all of us deserve compassion and kindness.”
“Renee lived this belief every day. She is pure love. She is pure joy. She is pure sunshine.”
Becca Good said the couple had moved to Minnesota “to make a better life for ourselves.”
“Our whole extended road trip here, we held hands in the car while our son drew all over the windows to pass the time and the miles,” she said.
In Minneapolis, Becca Good said, they found “a vibrant and welcoming community” where they “made friends and spread joy.” “And while any place we were together was home, there was a strong shared sense here in Minneapolis that we were looking out for each other,” she wrote. “Here, I had finally found peace and safe harbor.
“That has been taken from me forever.”
Becca Good said Renee “leaves behind three extraordinary children.” The couple was raising the youngest — now 6 — together. The boy’s father, Timmy Macklin Jr., was an Air Force veteran and a standup comedian who died in 2023 at age 36. Renee’s two older children, now 15 and 12, live in Colorado.
Renee Good’s parents live in Valley Falls, Kansas, about 65 miles northwest of Kansas City.
“I am now left to raise our son and to continue teaching him, as Renee believed, that there are people building a better world for him,” Becca Good said in her statement. “That the people who did this had fear and anger in their hearts, and we need to show them a better way.”
She thanked supporters for granting the family privacy as they grieve and “for ensuring that Renee’s legacy is one of kindness and love.”
“We honor her memory by living her values: rejecting hate and choosing compassion, turning away from fear and pursuing peace, refusing division and knowing we must come together to build a world where we all come home safe to the people we love,” she said.
A GoFundMe account was set up Wednesday for Becca Good and Renee’s young son.
“Please support the wife and son of Renee Good as they grapple with the devastating loss of their wife and mother,” it said. “Renee was pure sunshine, pure love. She will be desperately missed.”
The account was closed on Friday after raising $1.5 million. More than 38,000 donors contributed, with one giving $50,000.
“Thank you for your generosity,” wrote organizer Mattie Weiss on the site, which included the statement from Becca Good. “We’ve closed this GoFundMe and will place the funds in a trust for the family.
“If you’re looking to donate, we encourage you to support others in need. We’re truly grateful.”
This story was originally published January 9, 2026 at 1:57 PM.
