HANSKA — Justin Paul Reinarts and Tabitha Leigh Trescott are the 19th and 20th domestic-violence homicide victims in 2025, according to data from Violence Free Minnesota.
Both were fatally shot in Reinarts’ Hanska home on Nov. 2 by Trescott’s ex-boyfriend, Randy Zimmerman, 45, who fled and was later arrested in Iowa. Zimmerman was charged there with second-degree murder and has since been extradited to Minnesota.
Violence Free Minnesota, a social services organization in St. Paul, has been collecting information on victims killed due to domestic violence for 30 years and its website noted that since “no state or federal agency collects comprehensive data on domestic violence or intimate partner homicides” the organization relies on public information and news accounts for data collection.
“The system definitely failed them both,” said Jody Rhoades, mother to Reinarts’ two children.
As the 165-strong community of Hanska mourns the couple’s passing, their memories live on through the stories shared by their friends, family and neighbors.
Morgan Blackstad, who grew up in Hanska and went to school with Reinarts’ children, remembered Reinarts as woven into the fabric of their small community.
Blackstad has since devoted herself to advocacy work in their honor. She founded the Minnesota United Against Domestic Violence Facebook page, aiming to spread awareness, offer resources and uplift the voices of victims and survivors. She also has launched a petition calling for stronger domestic-violence awareness and protections.
“This is part of how I plan to carry Justin and Tabitha’s legacy forward — by turning grief into action and faith into movement,” Blackstad said in a written statement to The Free Press.
Reinarts’ heart of gold
Reinarts was born Sept. 2, 1975, in New Ulm to John and Yvonne Reinarts, according to his obituary. He spent much of his life in the New Ulm area before moving to nearby Hanska in 2008, where he became a beloved member of the tight-knit community.
He served on the Hanska Fire Department for 17 years, joining in 2008 and dedicating his time to helping others whenever called upon. Those who knew him describe him as a person who would go out of his way to help others.
Blackstad recalled riding the same bus with his kids, chatting with them daily and seeing him regularly at the Hanska convenience store where she worked part time.
Her most meaningful memory came during a frightening moment when her mother fell and suffered serious injuries. Blackstad panicked — until Reinarts arrived.
She says he calmed her, reassured her mother and even managed to make her laugh despite a broken leg and shoulder.
“Justin was the first responder to arrive on scene at her house. I was overwhelmed and terrified, and he walked in calm, collected, and steady — exactly what we needed. He cared for my mother with professionalism and tenderness, but he also cared for me at that moment,” Blackstad said.
He worked at various jobs throughout his life. For 20 years, he worked in the hog barns at L&L Pork in Hanska.
He also worked at Happy Joe’s, Turner Hall and Tommy Guns, along with providing security at Jackpot Junction, his obituary reads.
On Nov. 11, area responders honored Reinarts with a funeral procession including firetrucks and paramedic units from Hanska, St. James, Lake Crystal, Madelia, Sleepy Eye, Courtland and New Ulm. According to Rhoades, the turnout was extraordinary. The funeral home estimated nearly 700 people came through, and numerous area fire departments arrived not just with a few representatives but “in the dozens” to pay their respects.
“There are hundreds of people that have reached out to us, people we don’t even know,” Rhoades said. “It was very overwhelming but very humbling. We can’t say thank you enough to everybody for everything they’ve done and the support.”
Rhoades noted his love for family and friends was evident in everything he did, from playing broomball and softball to participating in demolition derbies with his nephews. He also spent countless hours on the farm, taking care of the animals and enjoying the peace that came with his time there.
“He loved his boys,” she said. “There’s nothing he wouldn’t do for us.”
A kind, nurturing spirit
Trescott was known for her “kind and nurturing spirit.” According to Dick Smith, Reinarts’ neighbor and previous colleague at the Hanska Fire Department, she had recently moved in but he hadn’t gotten the chance to meet her.
Blackstad said that though she also hadn’t met Trescott, she heard she was “nothing short of amazing.”
“They were the kind of people whose presence made you breathe a little easier,” Blackstad said.
Trescott worked at Kraft and in catering at Martin Luther College in New Ulm. She leaves behind two young sons.
“The only thing I ever asked of him after we separated is that he was happy and he found somebody that the kids liked. He did that, and that’s all I could ask,” Rhoades said.
“She (Trescott) was good with them and she was good with her kids.”
A celebration of life for Trescott will be 1-5 p.m. Nov. 29 at Bethel Church in Madelia. Family and friends are invited to come together to honor her memory.
Trescott is the niece of Angel Yordt. Yordt organized a GoFundMe page, which reads the celebration of life will be held to “show her boys how helpful, kind and loving their mother was.”
Members of Trescott’s family declined to comment at this time.
For those who wish to support the families, GoFundMe pages have been created to assist with funeral expenses and to support the children of both individuals.
Between the two pages, more than $18,000 had been donated as of last week.