VERDICT WATCH: Jurors Continue Deliberations in Karen Read Murder Trial; She’s Accused of Killing Boston Police Officer Boyfriend John O’Keefe
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A Massachusetts jury found Karen Read not guilty in her murder retrial at the Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham Wednesday.

NBC News has announced that the jury in Norfolk County found Read not guilty of second-degree murder, vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, and leaving the scene of an accident which contributed to the death of her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, in 2022.

Read was convicted on a lesser charge of operating a motor vehicle under the influence of liquor.

It took the jury four days to reach the verdict, which followed her 2024 trial that ended in a hung jury.

“No one has fought harder for justice for John O’Keefe than I have,” Read said outside the courthouse, to a gathering of supporters, AP News reports.

Karen Read gestures to her supporters while departing Norfolk Superior Court during jury deliberations at her trial, Tuesday, June 17, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

As previously reported by CrimeOnline, Read, a former 45-year-old adjunct professor, denied all charges related to O’Keefe’s death. Prosecutors claimed that during a snowstorm on January 29, 2022, Read struck O’Keefe with her Lexus SUV at a Canton, Massachusetts, house party held by now-retired officer Brian Albert.

The prosecution alleged that Read had dropped O’Keefe off at the home before she struck him with her vehicle and fled the scene.

Paul O’Keefe, brother of John O’Keefe, looks toward Karen Read as they leave the courthouse at the start of the third day of jury deliberations in Read’s trial at Norfolk Superior Court, Wednesday, June 18, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)

The defense contended O’Keefe sustained injuries at Albert’s home, was attacked by their German Shepherd, Chloe, and subsequently abandoned outside in a snowstorm.

 

The defense challenged the prosecution’s circumstantial evidence, focusing mainly on expert testimony. An accident reconstructionist said that damage to Read’s SUV and injuries to O’Keefe’s arm did not match a vehicle striking him. A pathologist testified that O’Keefe’s arm wounds appeared consistent with dog bites.

Several people connected to the case released a statement Wednesday, voicing sympathy for O’Keefe and his family. The statement signers included Jennifer McCabe, who was with Read and O’Keefe the night he died, as well as Brian Albert.

“While we may have more to say in the future, today we mourn with John’s family and lament the cruel reality that this prosecution was infected by lies and conspiracy theories spread by Karen Read, her defense team, and some in the media. The result is a devastating miscarriage of justice,” the statement said.

The story is developing. Check back dor updates.

[Feature photo: Defendant Karen Read listens to her lawyer Alan Jackson question witness Massachusetts State trooper Michael Proctor during her, Wednesday, June 12, 2024, in Norf]

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