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NEED TO KNOW
In January 2022, Karen Read became a suspect in her boyfriend John O'Keefe's death
In July 2024, Read's first trial was declared a mistrial after the jury remained deadlocked
During her second trial, she was acquitted of the murder charges in June 2025
Karen Read's life was forever changed when she became a suspect in her boyfriendJohn O'Keefe's death.
The Boston police officer was found unresponsive in the snow outside a late-night house party in Canton, Mass., during the early hours of Jan. 29, 2022. After Read discovered him dead in his former colleague's front yard, she was subsequently accused of hitting him with her SUV, sparking not one, but two lengthy and high-profile trials.
In July 2024, Read's first trial was declared a mistrial after the jury remained deadlocked after five days of deliberations. She continued maintaining her innocence, and that October, she toldVanity Fairthat she wasn't "backing down now."
"As scary as a potential conviction is, I will go to jail for something I didn't do before I plea out. I will never give them that win."
The second trial began in April 2025, over three years after O'Keefe's death. Read's defense continued to argue that she was the target of a police cover-up and that O'Keefe was fatally injured inside the house during a fight. On the fourth day of deliberations on June 18, the jury finally reached a verdict andacquitted her of the murder charges.
In her first interview since the verdict, Read toldThe Howie Carr Showin August 2025 that her transition back to normal feels "like a dimmer —the lights coming on a little brighter each week."
So where is Karen Read now? Here's everything to know about her life nearly three years after being accused of her boyfriend's murder and what verdict was reached during her second trial.
Who is Karen Read?
Getty ; Boston Police Department
Read was formerly a financial analyst and adjunct professor of finance at Bentley University, who resided in Mansfield, Mass., according toVanity Fair.
She first dated O'Keefe in their 20s, but they went their separate ways because of her job responsibilities,Inside Editionreported.
During an appearance onNightlinein August 2023, Read revealed that O'Keefe contacted her in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, and they rekindled their relationship.
"He had reached out to me on Facebook. He said, 'Hey, blast from the past. How's things,' " she recalled.
By that point, O'Keefe had been an officer with Boston Police for about 14 years. They dated for two years before his death.
What happened to John O'Keefe?
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On Jan. 28, 2022, Read dropped off her boyfriend O'Keefe at retired Boston officer Brian Albert's home for a late-night gathering in Canton after they ran into him earlier that evening at a bar.
She reportedly waited 10 minutes to hear whether or not she should join him inside, and when there was no word, she drove off.
Speaking toNightline, Read recounted it was snowing and windy when she last saw O'Keefe, who wasn't wearing a coat. The evening prior, 20 inches of snow fell, and the temperature dropped to 12 degrees, per the National Weather Service (viaThe Boston Globe).
Hours later, after O'Keefe didn't come home, Read and two mutual friends went searching for him, only to discover him unconscious and covered in snow in Albert's front yard.
O'Keefe was taken to a local hospital and pronounced dead at age 46 on Jan. 29, 2022.
According toCNN, the medical examination revealed severe injuries, including skull fractures, two black eyes and arm abrasions. Blood was also around his nose and mouth, and scratches.
NBC Newsreported the cause of death was listed as "blunt force trauma to the head and hypothermia." The medical examiner reportedly couldn't determine if it was accidental or a homicide, perBoston.com.
What was Karen Read charged with?
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Three days after O'Keefe's death, Read was arrested as a suspect on several charges, including manslaughter, motor vehicle homicide and leaving the scene of a personal injury or crime, perThe Boston Globe. The manslaughter charge was later upgraded to second-degree murder, and she pleaded not guilty to all counts.
Prosecutors allege Read, intoxicated after a night of bar hopping, hit O'Keefe with her SUV while dropping him off and left him for dead,PEOPLE previously reported. During Read's first trial, Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally presented a voicemail where a reportedly drunken Read yelled, "John, I f---ing hate you!" as she left Albert's driveway.
Additionally, witnesses testified that when Read and two friends found O'Keefe unconscious, she allegedly said, "I hit him," per documents cited byBostonmagazine.
The defense, however, argues that O'Keefe's injuries occurred during a fight with someone inside the house with whom he had a longtime conflict. They allege he was then attacked by the homeowners' German shepherd, dragged outside and left to die.
Read's lawyers further claim that she was framed by local law enforcement protecting their colleagues, asserting that she did not say, "I hit him," but rather, "Did I hit him?" The defense also stated that O'Keefe's injuries weren't consistent with being hit by a vehicle.
What was Karen Read's first verdict?
Read's murder trial related to O'Keefe's death began in April 2024.
After three months of hearing testimonies and the jury's deliberation, though, the jury foreperson informed Judge Beverly Cannone that, despite thoroughly reviewing the evidence, they wereunable to come to a unanimous verdicton June 28, 2024, per several outlets.
While Cannone sent the jury back to deliberate further, the trial ultimately ended with a deadlock, leading the Norfolk County Superior Court judge to declare a mistrial on July 1.
That same day, Massachusetts State Police announced that Trooper Michael Proctor, the lead investigator in the case, had beenremoved from his position"effective immediately." He was set to be transferred out of Norfolk County District Attorney's Office State Police Detective's Unit. Proctor was reportedly suspended without pay, perVanity Fair.
During his testimony, Proctor was forced to read vulgar and derogatory texts he had sent about Read, including offensive language and awish for her to take her own life. The former professor's attorneys argued that Proctor was biased due to his personal ties to the Alberts and others involved that night, alleging that he had planted evidence of a broken taillight at the scene.
Additionally, reports surfaced that five jurors have since come forward contesting the hung jury, claiming that the jury hadunanimously voted to acquit Readon two of the three charges, according to a motionpublished by WHDHand reviewed by PEOPLE. They were deadlocked on the manslaughter charge.
Immediately following the mistrial, Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey said in a statement that "The Commonwealth intends to re-try the case."
What was the verdict in Karen Read's second trial in 2025?
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In November 2024, Read and her lawyers appeared in Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court to appeal Cannone's decision to deny Read's request to dismiss two of three charges against her, theAssociated Pressreported. Her lawyers claimed that trying her againamounts to double jeopardy.
The Boston Globereported that Martin G. Weinberg, an appellate lawyer for Read, said that their appeal amounts to a fight for "protections that safeguard defendants, in this case Ms. Read, from re-prosecution for the very same offenses from which a prior jury was discharged without manifest necessity [for a mistrial declaration], without her consent."
Ultimately, a federal judge denied Read's request to have two charges dropped,CBS Newsreported in March 2025.
Read's new trial began in April 2025, during which Morrissey's office once again prosecuted Read on all three charges: second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating under the influence and leaving the scene of a fatal crash.
The trial went on for months, and included some new testimonies, including that of O'Keefe's mother, Peggy. Shetook the standfor nearly 20 minutes and recalled the moment she found out about her son's death via a phone call from one of his friends.
"She said, 'John was found in a snowbank,' " Peggy recalled. "I didn't understand. I said, 'What do you mean?' She's like, 'Found him in the snow. They don't know what happened.' "
Peggy also tearfully described her brief encounter with Read when they both arrived at the hospital shortly after.
"I hear Karen Read yell, 'Peg, is he dead? Is he dead, Peg? Peg, is he dead?' And I just kept walking," Peggy said, describing Read as being "loud."
On June 18, 2025, Read was found not guilty of killing O'Keefe, but was found guilty of operating under the influence of liquor. They also found her not guilty of manslaughter, and not guilty of leaving the scene of a crash resulting in death, perNBC Boston.
Where is Karen Read now?
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Now that she is acquitted on the most serious charges, Read still must face a civil case over O'Keefe's death, perThe Patriot Ledger. According to the outlet, O'Keefe's brother Paul filed a civil lawsuit in August 2024 against Read and two bars in Canton that the former couple visited before his death.
The suit is seeking at least $50,000 in damages including "reasonably expected society, companionship, comfort, guidance, counsel, net income, services, assistance, protection, care, and advice to next of kin," per the outlet.
During a pre-trial hearing in September 2025, her lawyerAlan Jacksonasked the court to dismiss part of the wrongful death lawsuit, arguing that the O'Keefe family didn't have standing to sue.
As for her life outside of court, Read detailed a slower-than-expected return to normalcy during her August 2025 interview onThe Howie Carr Show, saying, "There's moments I have every day that have these little epiphanies of, 'Wow, this is the first time I've done fill-in-the-blank in the last four years that I wasn't living with this nightmare.' "
She went on to say that it isn't quite as she "expected," before delivering a direct message to Morrissey: "You lost. You lost big time, and you know what you did," Read said.
As the trials were underway, Read sold her Mansfield home, moved in with her parents and lost her jobs (she previously worked in equity research at Fidelity Investments and as an adjunct professor at Bentley University).
"That was my career, and I still miss it," she told Carr, noting that now, she isn't sure she could "hop back on the commuter rail and walk through South Station every day."
Jackson suggested that they might pursue further legal action, saying that they "damn well intend" to go to court to air what they claim is the truth about the case — something that might also be discussed in a book Read is considering writing one day.
In November 2025,Read filed a civil lawsuitaccusing state police investigators and several former friends of shielding the real killers and framing her for the crime.
While aPrime Video limited series about Read's trialhas been greenlit withElizabeth Banksas the lead, perDeadline, Read told Carr that she has no involvement in the project.
"I have nothing to do with that; it's not authorized by me in any way," she said, while her lawyer added that it is "Karen Read's story to tell," not Hollywood's.
Read the original article onPeople
