Ray Trebus Sr., a Vietnam War veteran, was in the throes of metastatic prostate cancer when his family first met Alex Pretti.
Trebus was admitted to the Minneapolis VA Medical Center on Dec. 8, 2023, and Pretti became his nurse for a weeklong stint when he was moved to the ICU. Trebus died Jan. 6, 2024.
"He was patient. He answered all of our questions. He was a genuine person, and it was obvious that he truly cared about what we were going through," Trebus' daughter, Jean Trebus, told USA TODAY over Facebook messenger.
Other family members of Pretti's patients and friends are now remembering a man they called a "good person." Pretti died Jan. 24, when he was fatally shot by a U.S. Border Patrol agent on a sundrenched but subzero Saturday morning in Minneapolis.
The shooting came as he confronted federal agents in the city as part of the Trump administration's aggressive immigration enforcement operation. Federal officials alleged Pretti was carrying a gun he intended to use to "kill law enforcement." Videos from bystanders − and a witness account in court filings − do not show Pretti brandishing a weapon when he approached agents.
