Karen Read sobbed in court as she was acquitted of murder over the death of her Boston police officer boyfriend.
Read, 45, was accused of drunkenly ramming her SUV into her boyfriend, former Boston police officer John O’Keefe, and leaving him to die in blizzard conditions on January 29, 2022.
A jury returned a not guilty verdict on the charges of murder and leaving the scene resulting in death on Wednesday. She was found guilty of Operating Under the Influence and sentenced to probation.
The former adjunct college professor, who wore a light blue suit, cried and hugged her lawyer Alan Jackson after the judge delivered the news.
She has long maintained her innocence and insisted that she was framed by his police officer friends who were inside the house where he was found dead.
Read previously faced the charges at a trial last year. But after five days of deliberations, Judge Beverly Cannone declared a mistrial as the jurors remained split on whether she intentionally killed her boyfriend.
She has garnered a cult following of supporters from the widespread social media coverage of the case.
Read was greeted by a massive crowd of her fans after she left the court an innocent woman.
Karen Read sobbed as she learned her fate in the murder trial of her boyfriend, former Boston police officer John O’Keefe
Read previously faced the charges for O’Keefe’s (pictured) death at a trial last year. But after five days of deliberations, Judge Beverly Cannone declared a mistrial
Karen Read (pictured) was acquitted of murder, but she was found guilty of Operating Under the Influence and sentenced to probation
The jury handed down its decision after deliberating for at least 22 hours since June 13.
Prosecutors described Read as a scorned lover who chose to leave O’Keefe dying in the snow after striking him with her SUV outside the house party.
Her defense said O´Keefe was beaten, bitten by a dog, then left outside a home in the Boston suburb of Canton in a conspiracy orchestrated by the police that included planting evidence.
This is a developing story…
