What happened?
Karen Read, a 44-year-old financial analyst from Mansfield, Massachusetts, is accused of killing her boyfriend John O’Keefe in 2022. Her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, was killed by being backed over with her SUV outside in January 2022, and was left to die in a snowstorm following a night of drinking.
Read dropped O’Keefe, her then-boyfriend, off at the home of a fellow Boston police officer, Brian Albert, after a night of bar-hopping on Jan. 28, 2022. The next morning, O’Keefe was found in the front yard of the officer’s home and later pronounced dead at a hospital, with his autopsy listing his cause of death as hypothermia and blunt force trauma.
Read was charged with second-degree murder, motor vehicle manslaughter while driving under the influence, and leaving the scene of a collision causing death.
Guilty or not?
Read’s first trial concluded in July 2024 with a mistrial, where after deliberating for nearly a week, the jury was unable to reach a unanimous decision.
The prosecution claimed that, in anger, Read intentionally backed over O’Keefe with her car before driving away — pointing to her car’s vehicle data, a broken back tail light and the fact that O’Keefe’s hair was found on the bumper as evidence to support this. Prosecutors also called several first responders as witnesses who testified that they heard Read say, “I hit him. I hit him. Oh my God, I hit him,” at the scene where his body was found.
But defense attorneys for Read say she was framed for O’Keefe’s death.
After almost a week of deliberating at the end of the first trial, the jury wrote a letter to Judge Cannone, saying, “The divergence in our views are not rooted in a lack of understanding or effort but deeply held convictions that each of us carry, ultimately leading to a point where consensus is unattainable. We recognize the weight of this admission and the implications it holds.”
Read continues to claim her innocence and states that the police are framing her for the death of her boyfriend.
The Upcoming Trial
Prosecutors were given until July 2025 to retry the case, and the Norfolk County District Attorney’s office are working quickly to bring Read back to court on the same three charges. If convicted of the most serious charge, motor vehicle homicide, Read faces a possible sentence of life in prison.
Since the case is so public, the juror selection process is very extensive. The second trial began on April 1, 2025, with jury selection. Once the jurors are selected, the trial may take up to 6-8 weeks.
The defense team also plans to show the new jury-unseen footage from the Canton Police Department’s sallyport, where police brought Read’s vehicle for analysis the day after O’Keefe was found dead. The defense claims this footage supports its case that officers are trying to frame Read for O’Keefe’s murder, the Boston Globe reported.
What else is to come?
This case is now one of the closest watched in Massachusetts. Reads claims of innocence raise the question of potential corruption within law enforcement, but as jury selection is now underway, there is no telling how, or when, the truth of John O’Keefe’s death will emerge.
For live updates about Karen Read’s case, visit Boston 25 News.
