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Feb 3, 2022
CANTON, Mass. – A Massachusetts woman pleaded not guilty to running over her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe, and leaving him for dead in a snowbank after a night of drinking.
Karen Read, 41, is facing manslaughter charges. She was charged Wednesday, accused of leaving the scene of a serious accident and motor vehicle homicide, according to the Boston Globe.
Bail was reportedly set at $50,000 for the equity analyst and adjunct professor of finance at Bentley University, the New York Post reported.
Read and O’Keefe, 46, were reportedly barhopping on Friday night. She dropped him off at a house party in Canton, a police affidavit reportedly said. Apparently while departing, she reportedly slammed into him with her SUV as she made a turning movement, prosecutors said.
In the morning, Read noticed that her vehicle was damaged as she frantically tried to get in touch with O’Keefe to find out why he didn’t come home. She enlisted two friends to help figure out what happened, the Post reported.
Read’s friend reportedly told investigators “she believed Karen was still intoxicated in the morning” and said the suspect “did not remember last night,” according to the Globe.
Read made an effort to resuscitate O’Keefe, but he died later in the day at a hospital.
“I hit him, I hit him, I hit him, I hit him,” she reportedly acknowledged.
A longtime law enforcement partner of O’Keefe’s was present at an emotional filled arraignment, the Globe reported. He declined to give his name, but told the news outlet that O’Keefe had been dating Read for years.
“He was the best person on the planet,” he said.
Read’s lawyer, David Yannetti, said his client was in shock and distraught over O’Keefe’s death, which he said was an accident, the New York Post reported.
Yannetti said he thought prosecutors had rushed to charge Read because the victim was a politically connected police officer.
“Manslaughter is a tremendous reach in this case,” Yannetti reportedly said in court. “I don’t see any criminal intent … this was my client’s boyfriend, somebody with whom she was in love.”
PRIOR REPORT
Feb 2, 2022
CANTON, Mass. – A Boston police officer was found dead Saturday morning outside a residence in Canton during a powerful storm, Law Officer reported.
Officer John O’Keefe, a 16-year police veteran, was identified as the deceased officer by the Boston Police Department Superintendent-in-Chief Gregory Long.
On Tuesday evening, the Massachusetts State Police homicide detectives arrested a woman in connection with O’Keefe’s death, Fox News reported.
Karen A. Read, 41, of Mansfield, has been charged with manslaughter in the officer’s death after he was discovered unresponsive outside the Canton home.
The Canton Fire Department responded to the residence just after 6 a.m. Although the local area received 21 inches of snow during a powerful nor’easter Saturday, O’Keefe’s body was discovered before the brunt of the storm struck.
“He appeared to have been in the cold for some period,” the Norfolk County District Attorney’s statement said, adding that he was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital in Brockton where he was pronounced dead.
An autopsy was completed Monday, although details were not provided.
According to authorities, Read drove to the Fairview Road area with O’Keefe. Even though she is charged with leaving the scene of a motor vehicle collision causing death, and motor vehicle homicide, the specific allegations remain undisclosed.
The Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office said Read has been taken to the State Police Blue Hills Barracks for processing, Fox reported.
BPD told the news outlet they would not be commenting on Read’s arrest any further at the present time.
“Additional narrative information may be put into the record during arraignment tomorrow,” District Attorney Morrissey said. “Tonight our thoughts are very much with those whom John left behind.”
O’Keefe knew the residents that lived inside the house where he was discovered, the DA’s office said on Saturday. It was unclear how those details factor into the investigation.
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Source: www.lawofficer.com