A U.S. Air Force veteran who endured a nine-hour surgery last month and was cared for overnight by ICU nurse Alex Pretti said sadness at his death at the hand of ICE agents pierced “the deepest part of my heart.” Sonny Fouts, 71, has had a headache, stomachache and trouble sleeping since seeing news reports that the 37-year-old ICU nurse had been fatally shot by ICE agents Saturday, the vet and retired musician told People. Pretti provided care and comfort after Fouts underwent surgery to repair a descending aortic aneurysm, a bulge in the artery delivering blood from the heart to the rest of the body. Pretti not only helped his patient through the night, but also reassured Fouts’ partner, Kimberly Fouts, the vet told People. “He made me feel as comfortable as possible,” Sonny Fouts told People. “He made me laugh a few times — and I certainly didn’t feel like laughing.” Kimberly Fouts said Pretti’s presence blunted the jarring post-op sight of her partner “hooked up to so many machines and needles and tubes” and “just lightened the situation,” Kimberly Fouts told People. “There are nurses who come in and don’t really say anything, and Alex was not like that. I appreciated that I immediately felt comfortable with him. And I felt that Sonny was in good hands.” Octavio JONES / AFP via Getty ImagesA picture of Alex Pretti is left at a makeshift memorial in the area where Pretti was shot dead a day earlier by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 25, 2026. (Photo by Octavio JONES / AFP via Getty Images) While the federal government tried to portray Pretti as a threat and the shooting as justified, witnesses’ videos showed something else — several agents surrounding and struggling with Pretti, who had been filming them with his phone while shielding a woman who had been shoved to the ground, as pepper spray rained upon them. The videos showed an agent pull a handgun from Pretti’s waist — one that local authorities said he was carrying legally — as several ICE agents pinned him down. One agent shot him three times in the back as he lay on the ground, then others pumped several bullets into Pretti’s already motionless body. “I’m saddened,” Sonny Fouts told People. “I’m saddened to the deepest part of my heart.” With News Wire Services ...read more read less