Judge dismisses one claim in wrongful death lawsuit against Karen Read

A Plymouth Superior Court judge has dismissed one claim in the wrongful death lawsuit against Karen Read.

John O’Keefe’s family filed the civil lawsuit against Read in Plymouth Superior Court last summer after her first trial ended with a hung jury and Norfolk Superior Court Judge Beverly Cannone declared a mistrial.

Read’s legal team has argued that no members of the O’Keefe family were at the scene and thus “cannot support a claim of intentional or reckless infliction of emotional distress.”

Judge Daniel O’Shea dismissed one claim, the negligent infliction of emotional distress claim related to Kayley Furbush, O’Keefe’s niece who was living with him at the time of his death.

Several others, including Furbush’s claim of reckless infliction of emotional distress, will stand.

“Read at a minimum, knew or should’ve known her conduct would cause Kayley to suffer emotional distress,” O’Shea wrote in his ruling.

The 22-page lawsuit is filed on behalf of John O’Keefe’s brother Paul, John O’Keefe II, John’s father, Margaret O’Keefe, John’s mother, and John’s niece and nephew, who he was raising at his Canton home after both of their parents died.

It names Karen Read, C.F. McCarthy’s and Waterfall Bar & Grill as defendants. The suit does not state the dollar amount the family is seeking. Instead, it demands, “…costs, compensatory and punitive damages, lost value of next of kin and any other relief this Court deems appropriate.”

Read, 45, of Mansfield, was acquitted this summer of second-degree murder and manslaughter in the January 2022 death of O’Keefe, her Boston police officer boyfriend. Read was convicted of drunken driving, however, for which she will face a year’s probation.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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