Karen A. Read

OVERVIEW & LEGAL HISTORY SUMMARY

Karen A. Read (born February 26, 1980) is a former financial analyst at Fidelity Investments and adjunct finance professor at Bentley University, residing in Mansfield, Massachusetts. She was the primary defendant in the capital prosecution following the January 29, 2022, death of her boyfriend, 46-year-old Boston Police Officer John O'Keefe. On the night of January 28, 2022, Read and O'Keefe socialized at Canton bars before Read drove O'Keefe in her Lexus LX 570 SUV to an afterparty at 34 Fairview Road, the home of Boston Police Officer Brian Albert. Prosecutors alleged that an intoxicated Read backed her SUV into O'Keefe at high speed, fracturing his skull and causing fatal hypothermia and head trauma before driving away. Read was initially arrested on February 2, 2022, and subsequently indicted by a Norfolk County grand jury for Second-Degree Murder, OUI Manslaughter, and Leaving the Scene of Personal Injury Resulting in Death. Read's first trial opened in April 2024 in Norfolk County Superior Court before Judge Beverly Cannone. Led by defense attorneys Alan Jackson and David Yannetti, Read presented a third-party culprit defense, alleging O'Keefe entered the residence, was fatally beaten in an altercation involving house occupants and an ATF agent, attacked by a dog, and dragged outside while law enforcement officers fabricated taillight evidence to frame Read. On July 1, 2024, Judge Cannone declared a mistrial due to a deadlocked jury. Post-trial juror affidavits indicating unanimous agreement to acquit Read on murder and hit-and-run counts prompted double jeopardy dismissal motions, which were ultimately rejected by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, the First Circuit Court of Appeals, and the U.S. Supreme Court. In April 2025, Read's retrial commenced with Special Assistant District Attorney Hank Brennan leading the prosecution. On June 18, 2025, after four days of deliberation, the jury returned verdicts of not guilty on all three major felony counts—second-degree murder, manslaughter, and leaving the scene—while finding her guilty of the lesser offense of Operating Under the Influence (OUI). Judge Cannone sentenced Read to standard first-offense probation for one year, mandatory driver alcohol education, and a 90-day license suspension. Read completed her probation sentence on June 18, 2026. Concurrently, Read initiated federal civil rights litigation under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the Massachusetts State Police, the Town of Canton, former Trooper Michael Proctor, and five house occupants alleging malicious prosecution and evidence fabrication, alongside a state civil suit in Bristol County Superior Court.