Why didn’t Renee Goodman have custody of 2 of her children?
Executive summary
Available reporting indicates that Renee Nicole Good’s two older children were living with or in the custody of their father at the time of her death, not because of any publicly documented criminal finding against Good but as the result of family arrangements reported by relatives and local news; simultaneous online claims that she “lost custody” due to child abuse or that her partner was arrested are unverified and contradicted by searches of public records and fact-checking outlets [1] [2] [3] [4].
1. What the mainstream reports say about custody
Multiple news outlets that documented Good’s life and the aftermath of her killing report that her two older children were in the custody of their father, while her youngest — a six-year-old whose father had died in 2023 — was being cared for by Good and her partner Rebecca; those accounts come from interviews with family members and neighbors and are reflected in outlets covering the case [1] [2] [5].
2. How the “lost custody” story spread online
Within hours of the shooting, social media posts and threads began asserting that Good “lost custody of her two older children” and pushed darker allegations — including that her partner had been arrested for child abuse or that children had been burned with cigarettes — claims that proliferated without producing court records, police reports, or corroborating documentation [6] [4] [7].
3. What public-record searches and fact-checkers found
Investigations that searched criminal and court records under known names associated with Good found no arrest records, criminal charges, or custody orders linking her or her partner to child-abuse allegations; one localized review specifically reported no evidence of an arrest record or loss of custody, and broader fact-checking highlighted the absence of supporting legal documents for the viral claims [3] [6].
4. Family testimony and reporting provide the primary account
Reporting that quotes Good’s ex-husband, neighbors, and other family members — the same reporting that notes the father of the two older children had custody — forms the primary public record on where the children were living; those close to the family described custody and caregiving arrangements rather than court-driven removal of parental rights [2] [1] [5].
5. Alternative narratives and the lack of official confirmation
Alternative narratives — amplified in partisan and social feeds and reiterated by some commentators — framed the custody situation as evidence of parental unfitness or criminality, but no law-enforcement agency or court has publicly released records to substantiate those allegations; reputable outlets and a handful of fact-checks warn that these claims remain unproven and are likely social-media speculation [7] [4] [6].
6. What cannot be established from available reporting
There is no public court docket, police charge, or verified arrest record in the assembled reporting that explains why the older children were not living with Good beyond the citations that they were in their father’s custody; that leaves open ordinary family explanations (custody after separation, parental preference, or informal arrangements) as plausible but unproven in public documents — and reporters explicitly note the absence of court files to demonstrate removal for abuse [3] [4].
7. Bottom line and journalistic posture
The most defensible conclusion from the assembled reporting is this: the two older children were in their father’s custody according to family and neighborhood reporting, and viral claims that Good “lost custody” because of abuse — or that her partner was arrested for child abuse — lack documentary support in public records and have been debunked or labeled unsubstantiated by fact-checkers and local searches; absent the emergence of court documents or a law-enforcement confirmation, the allegations remain rumors amplified in a politically charged moment [1] [3] [6] [4].