Karen Read is facing a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the brother of her late husband, Boston police officer John O’Keefe.
Paul O’Keefe filed the lawsuit on behalf of his family, accusing Read of drunkenly hitting John with her SUV in January 2022 and leaving him outside to die during a snowstorm. The lawsuit also names as co-defendants the two bars in Canton, Massachusetts where Read and John had been drinking before John’s death, the Waterfall Bar & Grille and CF McCarthy’s, both of which are accused of “negligently serving alcohol to an intoxicated person, namely (Read).”
The civil suit comes nearly two months after Read’s first criminal trial – a 10-week ordeal that went viral among true crime fans on TikTok – ended in a miscarriage of justice and a “deeply divided” jury. Read was charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter while under the influence of alcohol and leaving the scene of a crime after discovering John’s body. She has pleaded not guilty and has repeatedly denied killing John. Her new trial is tentatively scheduled for early 2025.
The new civil lawsuit mirrors many of the allegations prosecutors made in the criminal case against Read, noting that Read consumed nine drinks at the two bars over the course of the night of Jan. 28, 2022, and alleging she was “under the influence of alcohol and unable to safely operate a motor vehicle” when she dropped O’Keefe off at a friend’s house for an after-party shortly after midnight on Jan. 29.
As the night progressed, the lawsuit states, “Read and O’Keefe had an argument.” According to the lawsuit, the “couple’s relationship” was already deteriorating and Read was said to have “started arguing, felt jealousy, and had delusions of infidelity.” That night, the lawsuit states, “Read knew her relationship with (O’Keefe) had run its course.”
After O’Keefe got out of Read’s car at the after-party, the lawsuit says, Read “drove her SUV” and struck him. She then allegedly “fled the scene of the accident and returned to (O’Keefe’s) residence” despite “knowing that it was snowing, that a blizzard was imminent, and that she knew or should have known that leaving (O’Keefe) outside in the blizzard would likely result in serious injury or death.”
The suit also accuses Read of inflicting emotional distress on the family, citing the alleged “false narrative” presented by Read and her defense team that O’Keefe was actually killed by after-party guests – many of them his fellow police officers – and that law enforcement conspired to pin the blame on Read. The suit also alleges that Read inflicted severe emotional distress on O’Keefe’s 14-year-old niece, waking her up at 4:30 a.m. to tell her that O’Keefe had not come home the night before.
A lawyer for Read and the two bar associations did not return immediately Rolling StonePlease leave a comment.
