BOSTON — Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox answered questions about the Karen Read case on Thursday, specifically about one of his officers who testified in the Mansfield woman’s high-profile murder retrial.
Kelly Dever, a current Boston police officer, was called to the stand by Read’s defense team on June 2. She was working dispatch for the Canton Police Department when John O’Keefe was found dead.
While Dever was on the stand, the defense implied that Cox influenced her testimony.
Dever confirmed she had a conversation with Cox about the murder case at some point before taking the stand in the retrial, but she denied getting any guidance.
“He just wanted me to tell the truth,” Dever said of Cox.
After speaking alongside Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden at a safe shopping initiative event, reporters caught up with Cox and questioned him about Dever’s testimony.
“Your name came up during the recent Karen Read trial. You got a visit from Officer Kelly Dever. The defense implied you influenced her testimony. Do you want to respond to that?” Cox was asked.
Cox quickly answered, “I have nothing to do with Karen Read. As a matter of fact, I didn’t even know this person was associated with the Karen Read case.
“I have an organization full of over 3,000 people, and we support all our folks. The reality is that I get information passed on, whether those people are high or low, and I encourage everyone,” Cox continued. “If you want to work here and you belong here, then we’re going to encourage you. I have no idea what they’re talking about with Karen Read. I had nothing to do with Karen Read, no discussion about Karen Read.”
Cox was then asked, “Did you tell Officer Dever to do the right thing?”
“I didn’t know she was even associated with that case,” Cox answered. “I was struck like, ‘What do I have to do with the Karen Read case?’ I’ve never said those words together. So, the fact is it’s much to do about nothing.”
Cox was last asked, “Do you feel that you were inappropriately brought into this?”
He responded, “That case is over. We’ve got a lot of other stuff to talk about. I had nothing to do with Karen Read.”
Read attorney Alan Jackson also questioned Dever about what she saw inside the Canton Police Department’s sally port on the morning of O’Keefe’s death on Jan. 29, 2022, but the exchange quickly turned heated when Jackson asked her if she wanted to be in the courtroom.
Dever responded that she had “no idea why I’m here.”
Read’s team has long argued that Read was framed and suggested that investigators planted evidence against their client, including possibly Read’s vehicle, which was brought into the sally port garage.
Dever said that she told federal agents in August 2023 that she saw ATF agent Brian Higgins and former Canton Police Chief Kenneth Berkowitz inside the garage. While Dever said she made that comment “in good faith,” she told the jury that she later realized she couldn’t have seen them because the two went into the garage after she had finished her shift.
Dever attributed the “false memory” to multiple media reports surrounding the case and said she retracted her statement.
After Dever’s day in court, Read blasted the officer’s testimony.
“When she was called into the commissioner’s office, the story was completely changed. It was recanted,” Read said when asked if she thought Dever may have been coaxed into changing her testimony.
Read added, “We subpoenaed her to testify to what she told other authorities and just wanted her to be as honest with us as she was with them. And today, she’s now telling us that was a lie.”
Prosecutors alleged that Read hit O’Keefe with her SUV, leaving him to die in a blizzard on the front lawn of fellow officer Brian Albert’s home at 34 Fairview Road in Canton following a night of drinking. Her lawyers painted a picture of police misconduct and theorized that O’Keefe was killed by colleagues, followed by a vast cover-up.
Read was acquitted of second-degree murder and manslaughter in the death of O’Keefe on June 18.
Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
©2025 Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/7QOJU3BNCJERBNKJC5LWTBYFLU.png)
