Feds turn over evidence in Renee Good and Alex Pretti killings to
Minnesota after months of delay
[July 14, 2026]
By PHILIP MARCELO and REBECCA BOONE
Federal prosecutors turned over key evidence long sought by Minnesota
investigators in their ongoing probe into the fatal shootings of Renee
Good and Alex Pretti during pitched protests against an immigration
enforcement crackdown earlier this year, state prosecutors announced
Monday.
The progress came as a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent
shot and killed a motorist in Maine on Monday, and Houston prosecutors
complained the administration was still withholding critical information
in their investigation into a fatal shooting by an ICE officer last
week.
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said the evidence turned over by
U.S. Attorney for Minnesota Daniel Rosen's office included previously
withheld hard drives containing statements, police body camera video and
other materials in the Minnesota killings. Federal prosecutors also
turned over Good’s badly damaged SUV, she said.
“The wonderful thing now is we have all the evidence,” Moriarty said.
“Any time the government is responsible in whatever way of taking the
life of a community member we need to have a full and thorough
investigation.”
Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was shot and killed in her vehicle
while leaving an anti-immigration enforcement protest in Minneapolis on
Jan. 7.
Her death and that of Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse shot
and killed days later during a Jan. 24 protest, sparked outrage across
the country and calls to rein in immigration enforcement.
The Minneapolis immigration crackdown, dubbed “Operation Metro Surge,”
ended in February after being billed as the largest immigration
enforcement operation ever.
At least nine people have been killed nationwide since the Trump
administration’s immigration enforcement campaign began last year. No
one has been charged in connection with the deaths, and the federal
government has suggested state prosecutors don’t have jurisdiction to
investigate federal officers.
Lawyers for Good’s family said the transfer of evidence represented “an
important and meaningful step towards justice and accountability.” The
Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which took custody of the
evidence, declared that “great strides have been made” to ensure a
“thorough and complete review” of the shootings.
But a lawyer for Pretti's family said Rosen's office, in a meeting
Monday afternoon, wouldn't confirm any cooperation agreement between
state and federal agencies.
“No family should be required to beg federal authorities to do their
job,” Steve Schleicher said in a statement. “Without a public commitment
by federal authorities to cooperate with the state, it is difficult — if
not, impossible — to pursue justice that holds the individuals
accountable for Alex’s death.”
Spokespersons for Rosen's office, as well as ICE and the federal
Department of Homeland Security, which oversees immigration enforcement,
didn’t immediately respond to emails seeking comment Monday.
Legal wrangling in another ICE-related shooting may have led to
evidence release
Moriarty on Monday declined to provide details on what prompted the
federal government to turn over the evidence.
But documents recently filed in a lawsuit brought by state and local
officials suggest the breakthrough came after federal officials sought
evidence state investigators gathered in the investigation of ICE agent
Christian Castro.
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Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty addresses the media at the
Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis, Monday, July 13,
2026. (Elizabeth Flores/Minnesota Star Tribune via AP)
Castro, 52, was charged with assault and falsely reporting a crime
in connection with the Jan. 14 nonfatal shooting of Julio Cesar
Sosa-Celis. Prosecutors say Castro fired through a Minneapolis
home’s front door and shot Sosa-Celis in the thigh while in pursuit
of another man.
State and local prosecutors said they would provide evidence in
Castro's case as soon as the federal government agreed to share its
evidence in the shootings of Pretti and Good.
“We are willing to share evidence with you if the exchange is
reciprocal,” Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension
Superintendent Drew Evans wrote in a legal filing to federal
officials.
Moriarty and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison later amended
their lawsuit to add details about the federal government’s refusal
to share the evidence collected in the fatal shootings.
Days later, they said in a court filing that the FBI, U.S.
Attorney's Office and state officials “have recently re-engaged in
discussions about the prospect of mutual information sharing.”
Ellison, in a statement Monday, said he remains “deeply troubled” it
took more than half a year for federal officials to hand over the
materials.
“It should never have taken this long,” he said. “I hope that this
is the beginning of a major course correction on the part of the
federal government.”
Moriarty added that she's not yet prepared to drop the lawsuit
against the Trump administration, which seeks access to evidence in
the three shootings.
Houston investigators complain feds are leaving them in the dark
Prosecutors in Houston, meanwhile, echoed similar concerns about
obtaining critical information from federal officials as they look
into last week’s death of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican national
who had lived in the U.S. for decades.
DHS has acknowledged officers stopped Salgado Araujo while looking
for someone else, but maintains the homebuilder rammed an ICE
vehicle while attempting to leave the scene. The agency says that
prompted an officer to open fire in self-defense, though it has yet
to provide evidence to back up that claim.
Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare said Monday that his
office doesn’t even know the identities of the ICE officers involved
or where they are nearly a week later.
“The federal government has not invited us in,” Teare said. “The
federal government is not collaborating with us with this
investigation.”
The man killed Monday in Maine was from Colombia. Federal officers
claimed he tried to use his vehicle as a weapon against officers
pursuing him for deportation. The shooting took place in Biddeford,
a coastal city of about 23,000 people roughly 15 miles (24
kilometers) southwest of Portland.
____
Associated Press reporter John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas, contributed
to this story.
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