(BOSTON) — As Karen Read stands trial for a second time in Massachusetts for the alleged murder of her police officer boyfriend, the victim’s mother spoke about her son’s death publicly for the first time on Wednesday.
Prosecutors allege that, following a night of drinking in Canton, Read struck her boyfriend — Boston police officer John O’Keefe — with her Lexus SUV outside of a get-together at another officer’s home and left him to die in a blizzard in January 2022.
After a jury was unable to reach a verdict in the initial murder trial last year, she is being retried on charges including second-degree murder, vehicular manslaughter while operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol and leaving the scene of a collision causing death. She has pleaded not guilty and maintains her innocence.
O’Keefe’s mother, Margaret “Peggy” O’Keefe, was not called to testify in Read’s first trial.
While testifying for the Commonwealth on Wednesday, Peggy O’Keefe described her son as an “enthusiastic” fan of sports who was “wonderful” with his niece and nephew, for whom he provided primary guardianship following their parents’ untimely deaths.
“He was their No. 1,” she said, shakily, “They called him JJ.”
She sobbed when special prosecutor Hank Brennan showed a photo of her son smiling.
When asked to recount the morning her son’s body was discovered, Peggy O’Keefe recalled the moment she arrived at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Brockton in search of her son. As she walked down the hallway towards the emergency room, she recalled seeing Read standing on the side of the corridor, screaming out to her, repeatedly asking if John O’Keefe was “dead.”
After John O’Keefe was pronounced dead later that morning, his mother recalled leaving the hospital and gathering in his home with her husband and her grandchildren to mourn together.
She said Read showed up with members of her own family, and that she didn’t recall talking to the defendant. She said they left after about 10 to 15 minutes, removing Read’s Lexus SUV parked in the driveway from the premises.
The defense did not ask Peggy O’Keefe any questions.
“I am very, very sorry for your loss,” defense attorney Alan Jackson told her.
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