Karen Read hires 3 new lawyers for O’Keefe family’s wrongful death lawsuit

DEDHAM, Mass. — Karen Read has reportedly hired three new lawyers to represent her in a wrongful death lawsuit that the family of John O’Keefe filed against her last year.

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.

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.

Read was convicted of drunken driving, however, for which she will face a year’s probation.

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.

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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.”

“In the months, weeks, and days leading up to January 29, 2022, JJ (John) and defendant Read’s relationship was deteriorating. During such time, defendant Read picked fights, experienced jealousy, and had delusions of unfaithfulness,” the lawsuit claims.

Damon Seligson, Charles Waters, and Aaron D. Rosenberg, all with the Boston-based firm Sheehan Phinney, joined Read’s defense team last week to represent her in the lawsuit, MassLive reported. They join lawyers, including William Keville Jr., who have already represented her in the civil case.

The lawsuit also names C.F. McCarthy’s and Waterfall Bar & Grill as defendants, the two bars on Washington Street in Canton where O’Keefe and Read were seen drinking hours before his death.

Video shows Karen Read, John O'Keefe embracing at Canton bar hours before his death

Read had asked that the civil suit be “stayed” or postponed until her criminal case is complete. Plymouth County Superior Court Judge William M. White, Jr. later allowed Read’s motion.

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.”

A trial date for the suit hasn’t been set.

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