Karen Read Acquitted of Murder of Boston Cop Boyfriend in Retrial

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Karen Read Not Guilty of Murder ... In Retrial for Boston Cop BF's Death

Published June 18, 2025 12:05 PM PDT | Updated June 18, 2025 3:35 PM PDT

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Karen Read -- the Massachusetts woman accused of murdering her Boston police officer boyfriend John O'Keefe in 2022 -- has just been found not guilty of murder.

Read was charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating under the influence, and leaving the scene of an accident causing injury or death. The jury found her guilty of a single count of OUI Wednesday ... misdemeanor Operating Under the Influence.

John & Karen Read

Prosecutors alleged in January 2022, Read got into a heated drunken argument with O’Keefe before backing up and hitting him with her SUV, killing him ... then fleeing the scene, leaving him to die in a friend's snow-covered front yard in Canton, Mass.

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Read will serve a year of probation for the OUI conviction.

Read was retried after a hung jury prompted a mistrial in July 2024. Her retrial began in April, and final arguments finished Friday -- and the jury began deliberations that afternoon. Monday marked the first full day of deliberations ... and the verdict was reached Wednesday.

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Read, who's now 45, has always maintained she’s innocent -- her team says she was framed, claiming O’Keefe actually got into a brawl with his fellow cops that night, who pinned his death on Read.

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There were seven women and five men on this jury.

In Karen’s mistrial last year ... the jury voted to acquit her on second-degree murder and fleeing the scene -- but deadlocked 9-3 in favor of convicting her on vehicular manslaughter.