Karen Read Walks Free After Shocking Verdict in Cop Death Trial
Crowds cheer, emotions explode as jury clears Read of all major charges in the John O’Keefe case
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June 18 EST: It was just after noon when the gavel dropped and the courtroom fell still. You could hear someone exhale—maybe in shock, maybe in relief. Then came the word: “Not guilty.” And another. And another.
Three times the verdict rang out. Karen Read, once staring down the barrel of a murder conviction, walked out of a Norfolk County courthouse on Tuesday with only a DUI to her name. That’s it. No prison. Just probation.
For her supporters, it was like hitting a walk-off homer in the bottom of the 9th. They exploded outside the building—cheering, hugging, some with tears rolling down their faces. For the family of Officer John O’Keefe, it was more like getting punched in the gut.
The Case That Divided a City
You couldn’t script this one. January 29, 2022 — a snow-covered morning, a Boston cop found dead outside another cop’s house. Karen Read, his girlfriend, claimed she didn’t know what happened. The Commonwealth said she ran him over, drunk and furious, then drove off.
For two years, it’s been courtroom drama and cable-news obsession. A hung jury last year. A full-blown retrial this spring. And every step of the way, the city split in half.
One side saw Read as a scapegoat, a woman being railroaded to protect insiders. The other saw her as guilty, plain and simple—someone trying to shift blame after tragedy. And then there were the podcasts, the docuseries, the viral TikToks. It wasn’t just a trial; it became a movement.
The Jury’s Play-By-Play
Deliberations lasted four days, about 21 hours in total. That’s a slow burn for a verdict this heavy. And when it came, the jury cleared Read on every major charge: murder, manslaughter, and leaving the scene.
The only thing they stuck her with? Operating under the influence. A drunk driving charge. For a woman prosecutors said killed a cop and left him to die in the snow, that’s barely a slap on the wrist. One year probation. No jail time.
It was a total collapse for the prosecution, who leaned on vehicle damage, blood alcohol levels, and an alleged confession. But it wasn’t enough. Not this time.
The Raw Emotion Outside
When Read walked out, there were cheers, fists raised, chants of “Justice for Karen!” One supporter yelled, “You beat them!” Another sobbed uncontrollably. Read, for her part, was visibly shaken but kept walking, surrounded by legal staff and flashing cameras.
But turn the corner and you’d find a different scene. Quiet, tense, devastated. O’Keefe’s family left with no closure—and still a civil trial ahead.
Whatever side you’re on, here’s the truth: no one really won here. A man is dead. A woman’s life has been upended. And the justice system, for all its spectacle, left a lot of people with more questions than answers.
What Comes Next?
There’s still one game left to play—a wrongful death lawsuit filed by O’Keefe’s family. Civil court, lower burden of proof. That’s where we might see more light—or just more shadows.
But in the meantime, Karen Read is free. The state swung for the fences, and missed. And Boston? Boston’s still trying to figure out what just happened.
Because this wasn’t just about guilt or innocence. It was about trust—in the system, in the cops, in each other. And that’s not something a verdict can fix overnight.
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