Death of John O'Keefe

On 29 January 2022, John O'Keefe was discovered unresponsive outside a Canton home and was pronounced dead. Following his death, Karen Read was arrested on 1 February 2022 on a manslaughter warrant from Stoughton District Court. Read entered a plea of not guilty at her arraignment the following day. A grand jury indicted Read on 9 June 2022 for second-degree murder, motor vehicle manslaughter, and leaving the scene of a collision causing death, leading to her arraignment in Norfolk County Superior Court on 10 June 2022. Jury selection for Read's first trial commenced in Norfolk County Superior Court on 16 April 2024. The court heard opening statements, witness testimony and closing arguments. The defense rested its case on 24 June 2024, and the jury began deliberations on 26 June 2024. After several days of deliberations, the court declared a mistrial on 1 July 2024 because the hung jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict. In the wake of the mistrial, the O'Keefe family initiated a civil wrongful-death lawsuit against Read and two Canton establishments in Plymouth Superior Court on 26 August 2024. Meanwhile, Read's criminal retrial commenced with jury selection on 1 April 2025 in Norfolk County Superior Court, followed by opening statements and testimony on 22 April 2025. On 18 June 2025, Read was acquitted of second-degree murder and sentenced to one year of probation on an operating-under-the-influence conviction, a probationary term she completed on 18 June 2026. In the civil litigation, a hearing on summary-judgment motions in Plymouth Superior Court was set for 24 November 2026. The civil trial between the O'Keefe family and Read was scheduled for 5 April 2027.