Did Renee Good, the woman who was fatally shot by an ICE agent in Minnesota, lose custody of her two older children because her partner Rebecca Good abused them by putting cigarettes out on them? No, that's not true: No credible evidence shows that she lost custody or that her partner burned her children. Social media posts have circulated making those claims, but they cite no documents, police records or court files to support allegations of child abuse or a custody loss tied to such abuse. Lead Stories spoke with officials who denied knowledge of Rebecca Good being accused of harming Renee's children. Public records searches have not confirmed any such incidents or charges in connection with Rebecca Good or custody actions related to Renee Good.
The claim appeared in a January 9, 2026, video posted on TikTok account @theoldermillennial (archived here). It opened with the person in the video saying:
Just a little tidbit about Renee Nicole Good.
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of TikTok post.)
This is what the person in the video claimed:
Hey, just a little tidbit about the left's new hero. She only has custody of one of her kids. And the reason that she only has custody of one is that her domestic partner, a woman, she likes to beat the shit out of kids and put cigarettes out on their arm. And she chose that woman over her kids. The court was basically like hold on, if you're going to stay with her, you don't get to keep the kids.
She was a gay advocate, that's fine. So when people were asking, why was this mother not at home taking care of her children? Because her children were taken away from her because her partner likes to beat the shit out of them and use their fucking arms as ashtrays.
The person refers only to "the court" but does not specify which court and provides no court documents or public records to support the claim. Lead Stories searched for court records of Renee Macklin Good in Missouri and did not find any cases at all involving her, as this screenshot shows:
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of Missouri courts website.)
Lead Stories searched for court records of Rebecca Good in Missouri and did not find any cases at all involving her, as this screenshot shows:
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of Missouri courts website.)
Renee was living in Minneapolis, Minn. where she was shot and killed by the ICE agent. She legally changed her name from Renee Macklin to Renee Good in 2023 and in that court petition reviewed by Lead Stories, she noted her children did not live with her. Had there been a court case against her or her wife, there would have been a public record. We searched the Minnesota Judicial Branch website and did not find any cases matching her name, as this screenshot shows:
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of Minnesota courts website.)
Lead Stories spoke with Scott Lauck, the public information officer for the Jackson County Circuit Court in Kansas City, Missouri, via telephone on Jan. 13, 2026. Renee and Rebecca lived in Missouri before moving to Minnesota. He said he had not heard about the claim.
Lead Stories contacted the Hennepin County district attorney's office via telephone on Jan. 12, 2026, and the receptionist said they had not heard about the claim against Rebecca or Renee regarding the children being burned by cigarettes.
If there were evidence from court records that stated Rebecca Good had burned Renee's older children with cigarettes that would have been major news. A search of Google and Yahoo! News with keywords about Renee and Rebecca did not find any matching news reports.
Renee's ex-husband spoke to the Associated Press following her death, and did not mention a custody battle nor speak poorly of her:
Her ex-husband, who asked not to be named out of concern for the safety of their children, said Good was no activist and he never knew her to participate in a protest of any kind. He said she was headed home before the encounter with a group of ICE agents on a snowy street.
