Family of deceased Boston police officer sues Karen Read

( NewsNation ) — The family of Boston police officer John O’Keefe filed a wrongful death lawsuit Monday against Massachusetts woman Karen Read , who faces charges in connection to his January 2022 death.

In their civil lawsuit obtained by NewsNation local affiliate WWLP , members of O’Keefe’s family allege Read hit O’Keefe with her vehicle and fled, despite knowing about an “impending blizzard.” Read knew, or should have known, “that leaving (O’Keefe) outside in the blizzard would likely result in serious injury or death,” the family said.

Also named as defendants in the court filing are two Canton bars — C.F. McCarthy’s and Waterfall Bar & Grille — that Read and O’Keefe went to before he died. Both establishments, family members said, “negligently served alcohol” to Read, despite her already being intoxicated.

NewsNation has contacted Read’s lawyer in her criminal case and the two bars listed in the lawsuit for comment.

Read is accused of fatally striking O’Keefe with her SUV while dropping him off at a friend’s house after a night of drinking on Jan. 29, 2022. While prosecutors argue Read struck him intentionally, her defense attorneys say Read is the victim of a police cover-up. A group of Read’s supporters gathered regularly outside of the courthouse where her highly publicized first trial took place.

Jurors in that initial trial ended up saying they were hopelessly deadlocked, and a judge declared a mistrial on the fifth day of deliberations. Read’s new trial is set to begin Jan. 27,2025.

Wrongful Death Suit Against Karen Read

Family members said in the lawsuit that in the weeks leading up to his death on Jan. 29,2022, Read and O’Keefe’s relationship had been “deteriorating.” The day before, they allege, Read knew “her relationship had run its course.”

Read and JJ had been arguing throughout the night on Jan. 28, and into the early morning, the lawsuit alleges.

On Jan. 28, the lawsuit says, Read went to C.F. McCarthy’s, where she was given seven drinks between 8:58 p.m. and 10:29 p.m. The suit said Read showed signs of intoxication when she left and went to Waterfall Bar & Grille with O’Keefe. At Waterfall, the suit said, Read was served one shot and another mixed drink. She left at 12:10 a.m., and O’Keefe left at 12:11 a.m.

Even though Read, according to the lawsuit, was under “the influence of alcohol and unable to drive a motor vehicle safely” she drove the couple to the residence of a Boston police officer.

That’s where, the lawsuit claims, Read hit O’Keefe with her SUV, knocking him to the ground.

Read has maintained her innocence, telling ABC News last August that she “never harmed a hair on John O’Keefe’s head” and that it’s “not possible” that she may have hit him unwittingly.

The lawsuit accused Read of “fabricating” a conspiracy in her public comments, and that “such false narrative caused the Plaintiffs aggravated emotional distress.”

Karen Read Trial Recent Updates

On Friday, Judge Beverly Cannone ruled Read can be retried for second-degree murder and leaving a crime scene, despite her legal team’s request to dismiss those charges against her.

Defense attorneys had presented evidence after the mistrial stating that four jurors said they were deadlocked only on the third count of manslaughter Read faced. Inside the jury room, the defense said, they had unanimously agreed that Read was innocent of second-degree murder and leaving the scene of a deadly accident.

Because of this, the defense said, trying her again on those two charges would be unconstitutional double jeopardy.

“We have evidence here that the jury acquitted Ms. Read,” defense lawyer Marty Weinberg told the court earlier this month. “What could be more central to the core values of our criminal justice system than to make a judicial determination with a respected and experienced Superior Court judge whether that is so or not and, if it’s so, stop her re-prosecution?”

However, Cannone said jurors didn’t tell the court during their deliberations that they had reached a verdict on any of the counts.

“Where there was no verdict announced in open court here, retrial of the defendant does not violate the principle of double jeopardy,” Cannone said in her ruling.

Paula Malatesta of NewsNation and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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