Girlfriend of Boston police officer found outside and unresponsive amid winter storm pleads not guilty to manslaughter charge
The girlfriend of a Boston police officer who was found unresponsive outside a Massachusetts home amid the brutal nor’easter over the weekend has pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from his death.
Karen Read, an equity analyst and adjunct professor of finance at Bentley University, was arraigned Wednesday on charges of manslaughter, leaving the scene of a serious accident and motor vehicle homicide in connection with the death of Boston Officer John O’Keefe, according to the Boston Globe. Her bond was set at $50,000, which she posted later the same day.
On Friday, 47-year-old Read and her boyfriend, a 16-year veteran of the police force, went out for an evening of barhopping despite the massive winter storm looming. Prosecutors said Read dropped O’Keefe at a house party in Canton late that night and struck him with her SUV as she was attempting to turn off the property.
When she awoke the next morning, Read noticed that her snow-dusted vehicle was damaged and that O’Keefe was nowhere to be found. She made several panicked calls to his cellphone in a bid to locate him, but to no avail, and ultimately enlisted a couple of friends to help her in her search. One of them told the Boston Globe that Read appeared to still be intoxicated that morning and that she said she did not remember any events from the night prior.
Eventually, they found O’Keefe unconscious and covered in snow beside a shattered cocktail glass and several bloodstains.
Read tried to resuscitate her boyfriend, but he died at the hospital later the same day. She reportedly confessed to running him down in wake of his death.
“The Boston Police Department continues to grieve over the tragic loss of our brother, Police Officer John O’Keefe,” Superintendent-In-Chief Gregory Long wrote in a statement Tuesday. “John was a kind person, dedicated to his family, and will be greatly missed by his coworkers and anyone who had the privilege of meeting him.”
Her attorney, David Yannetti, has repeatedly said that Read has been left devastated over O’Keefe’s death and that the charges she is currently facing are far too severe.
“Manslaughter is a tremendous reach in this case,” Yannetti reportedly said in court. “I don’t see any criminal intent … this was my client’s boyfriend, somebody with whom she was in love.”
