January retrial likely after judge declines to dismiss two charges against Boston woman accused of killing boyfriend
The Massachusetts judge presiding over the high-profile murder trial of Karen Read has rejected a defense motion to dismiss two charges, including murder, setting the stage for the case to be retried in January after jurors deadlocked this summer.
Read, 44, is accused of killing her boyfriend, the Boston police officer John O’Keefe, 46, by hitting him with her sport-utility vehicle and leaving him to die in a snowbank. She pleaded not guilty to charges including second-degree murder, manslaughter while under the influence of alcohol, and leaving the scene of a deadly crash.
A two-month trial ended in July after the jury indicated multiple times that its members were deadlocked while deliberating a verdict. The judge Beverly Cannone declared a mistrial on the fifth day of unsuccessful deliberations.
O’Keefe, who served as a Boston police officer for 16 years, was found dead on 29 January 2022 outside the home of Brian Albert, a retired Boston officer who hosted a house party in the suburb of Canton.
