Independent Autopsy Provides 'Strong Evidence' Against ICE Agent Who Killed Renee Good
"Our legal team will continue its unwavering and proactive advocacy for Renee’s life and her family," said lead attorney Antonio M. Romanucci, whose firm commissioned the autopsy.
"As a lawyer, I've been waiting for this," New York University law professor Ryan Goodman said early Thursday after attorneys for Renee Good's family released findings from an independent autopsy conducted as part of a civil investigation into her death.
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Jonathan Ross fatally shot Good in Minnesota two weeks ago. While the Trump administration has tried to paint the 37-year-old US citizen and mother of three as a "domestic terrorist," and argue that the ICE agent was acting in self-defense, videos, eyewitness accounts, and analyses of the shooting have fueled calls for Ross' arrest and prosecution.
The independent autopsy provides "strong evidence against Agent Ross, given what it means about [his] second or third shot through [the] left-side window" of Good's vehicle, Goodman wrote on social media. Those shots make the "easiest criminal case of a willful killing."
The Chicago-based law firm Romanucci & Blandin said in a Wednesday statement that it commissioned a "highly respected and credentialed medical pathologist" to conduct the autopsy at the request of Good's family, and the expert found:
- There were three clear gunshot wound paths to Renee's body;
- One gunshot wound struck the left forearm, causing soft tissue hemorrhage;
- One gunshot wound traversed the right breast without penetrating major organs;
- One gunshot wound entered the left side of her head near the temple and exited the right side of her head;
- The breast and left forearm wounds were not immediately life-threatening; and
- A fourth wound was a graze wound consistent with a firearm injury, but with no penetration.
"We believe the evidence we are gathering and will continue to gather in our investigation will suffice to prove our case," said lead Attorney Antonio M. Romanucci. "The video evidence depicting the events of January 7, 2026, is clear, particularly when viewed through the standards of reasonable policing and totality of circumstances. Additionally, our legal team will continue its unwavering and proactive advocacy for Renee's life and her family."
The firm noted that "the results of the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office autopsy have not yet been released to the family or legal team."
The Washington Post highlighted that "Romanucci, one of the firm's founding partners, was on the legal team that represented the family of George Floyd after he was killed by a Minneapolis police officer. That legal team also commissioned an independent autopsy that contradicted aspects of the Hennepin County medical examiner's autopsy."
The day after Good's death, Drew Evans, superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, announced that the probe into the fatal shooting "would now be led solely" by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Meanwhile, several officials with the US Department of Justice (DOJ), including prosecutors and others in the Civil Rights Division, have recently resigned over the case.
The DOJ has refused to open a civil rights investigation into Good's killing but is investigating Minnesota officials for alleged conspiracy to impede the thousands of federal immigration agents sent to the Twin Cities. On Tuesday, the department subpoenaed Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, state Attorney General Keith Ellison, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, Saint Paul Mayor Kaohly Her, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, and Ramsey County Attorney John Choi.
"This Department of Justice investigation, sparked by calls for accountability in the face of violence, chaos, and the killing of Renee Good, does not seek justice," Walz said in a statement that mirrored those of the other targeted officials. "Minnesota will not be intimidated into silence and neither will I."
