Minnesota prosecutor talks strategy after deadly Houston ICE shooting

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (KTRK) -- Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said when she heard Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was shot and killed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Houston on July 7, her heart sank.

After navigating how to investigate the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, who were both killed by ICE agents in Minneapolis in separate incidents six months ago, Moriarty said she knew what Harris County prosecutors would be up against in their own investigation.

Moriarty said after Good was killed on January 7, she was on a call with federal and state investigators - something she said is typical in these types of incidents where they conduct joint investigations.

Soon, she said she learned the collaborative efforts she had been used to with federal partners were going to be different for the deaths of Good and later Pretti.

"The federal government took Renee Good's car and the gun that was involved and took that evidence away, would not share it with us," Moriarty said.

She said the county did several things it had never done before, including opening up a public portal to solicit video and evidence from the public. She said they received more than 1,000 submissions related to the deaths of Good and Pretti.

They also filed a lawsuit against the federal government to preserve evidence.

"We are really building the plane as we are flying it because much of this was new to us, and so it was a lot of creative problem solving as we went along," Moriarty said.

Six months after the shootings, Moriarty was finally able to get evidence after the federal government had been refusing to turn it over.

Amid that victory for her prosecutors, Moriarty said she's been in contact with Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare as he navigates a similar issue of lack of evidence from federal agencies related to Salgado Araujo's death last week in Houston.

"Our team was more than happy to talk to Sean," Moriarty said. "Obviously, his case is different. He's got to do his own investigation and make his own decisions, but in terms of process, we were more than happy to walk through with his team what we had done here."

During an episode of Houston Public Media's "Hello Houston" podcast, Teare said his office's conversations with local officials in Minneapolis have been helpful.

"Hennepin County has navigated that as well as can possibly be expected, and so it's one of the reasons that we've already leaned on them, and we'll continue to lean on them," Teare said during the podcast, which aired on July 9, two days after the shooting.

Moriarty said her advice to district attorneys across the country is to start having conversations with local law enforcement agencies to see how much their officers are willing to support them if they find themselves in a similar situation.

"Are you willing to intervene? At least, can you show up at a scene? Can you show up with your body cam and film things? Can you get the names of witnesses? Can you collect video before it gets erased?" Moriarty said. "That's something that I think is critically important, and I've talked to other DAs about that - start having those conversations now because this was unprecedented for our law enforcement."

She also said it's important for local officials to think about how far they're willing to push back.

"Those conversations should happen early to try to educate law enforcement about, 'hey, if you feel that something unlawful has happened in your city, in your jurisdiction, you absolutely have a right to intervene.' There may be consequences for that, obviously, but you have a right to investigate," Moriarty said.

She said she hopes the federal government shares all of its evidence with Teare so they can both do their own investigations and share their findings with the public.

"The people of this country, the people of our community, the people of Houston have a right, when the government takes the life of a community member, to expect that there is going to be a full, thorough, fair, transparent investigation and that a decision is going to be made," Moriarty said. "People may disagree with the decision, but they need to feel as though there's been a thorough and complete investigation and a complete explanation of what the decision is. That is fundamental, absolutely fundamental, and that's what we've been able to do here and ... I'm certainly hopeful that that's what happens in Houston."

On Thursday, the U.S. Attorney's Office issued a statement saying "the appropriate law enforcement agencies are looking into this matter. That includes my office, the FBI, DHS, and other state and local partners."