The family of John O’Keefe III, a Boston police officer who tragically died in January 2022, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Karen Read, his girlfriend at the time.

Allegations of Intoxication and Intentional Harm

The lawsuit, filed in Plymouth Superior Court, accuses Read of intentionally striking O’Keefe with her SUV while intoxicated and leaving him to die in a snowstorm. The suit also names two Boston bars, C.F. McCarthy’s and the Waterfall Bar & Grille, alleging that they over-served Read alcohol on the night of the incident.

According to the lawsuit, on the night of January 29, 2022, Read was allegedly under the influence of alcohol, with a blood alcohol content between 0.135% and 0.292%, when she drove O’Keefe to an afterparty at a fellow Boston Police Department officer’s home. The family claims that Read and O’Keefe’s relationship had been troubled, with Read reportedly experiencing jealousy and delusions of unfaithfulness in the months leading up to the incident.

Overview of the Lawsuit

The lawsuit alleges that after arriving at the afterparty, Read struck O’Keefe with her vehicle, intentionally or recklessly, and left him outside in the snow. O’Keefe was later found unresponsive and pronounced dead, with the medical examiner listing his cause of death as “blunt impact injuries of the head and hypothermia.” The family contends that Read visited O’Keefe’s family later that day, under the guise of offering comfort, but instead used the opportunity to remove her car and any potentially incriminating evidence from the scene. The lawsuit also claims that Read inflicted emotional distress on O’Keefe’s 14-year-old niece, who was under his care at the time of his death. The niece allegedly overheard Read making conflicting statements about what might have happened to O’Keefe, including the possibility that she had hit him with her car.

Legal Proceedings and Upcoming Trial

In addition to the wrongful death claim, the lawsuit seeks damages of at least $50,000, citing the emotional distress suffered by O’Keefe’s family. The legal action comes nearly two months after Read’s murder trial ended in a hung jury, with deliberations lasting five days. Despite maintaining her innocence throughout the investigation, Read now faces a second trial set for January 27, 2025. She is charged with second-degree murder, leaving the scene of a death, and manslaughter with a motor vehicle.

Karen Read’s legal team has not yet responded to the lawsuit. Meanwhile, the bars implicated in the suit have not publicly commented on the allegations of over-serving Read on the night of the incident. The upcoming trial is expected to be closely watched, given the high-profile nature of the case and the serious charges Read continues to face.