Attorneys in Karen Read’s civil trial over the death of John O’Keefe have filed a motion to dismiss the wrongful death lawsuit.
The motion was filed in Plymouth Superior Court on Wednesday.
Read, 45, of Mansfield, was acquitted last month 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.
Prosecutors alleged 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.
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 declaring a mistrial.
The 22-page lawsuit was filed on behalf of O’Keefe’s brother Paul, his father, John O’Keefe II, his mother, Margaret O’Keefe, and his niece and nephew, whom he was raising at his Canton home after both of their parents died.
The lawsuit alleges that Read “outrageously created a false narrative” and the O’Keefe family has suffered “emotional injuries, severe physical pain, anguish, emotional distress and other harm… caused by defendant Read’s negligence.”
A formal date for the start of the civil trial has not been set.
Karen Read reportedly hired three new lawyers to represent her in the civil trial earlier this week.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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