Karen Read acquitted of murder but found guilty of drunk driving

Our live coverage of the verdict in the Karen Read trial has concluded for the day. Please scroll to learn about today’s dramatic developments or see our latest coverage here.

The years of fighting her case in court has taken a toll not just on Karen Read, but on her family too.

Read’s older brother, Nathan Read, told CNN affiliate WCVB that he has watched his parents age through the process.

Her brother said “hopefully in time” their lives will go back to normal, but tonight he said the family will celebrate with “a really big dinner.”

A jury convicted Read of drunk driving, but found her not guilty of the murder of her boyfriend, John O’Keefe.

Read’s defense has maintained that she had been framed and that off-duty law enforcement officers were responsible for his death.

“Sorry for their loss. We’ve always felt that way. John was a good man,” Nathan Read said.

Karen Read gestures to supporters on Wednesday in Dedham, Massachusetts.

The scene outside the courthouse this afternoon when Karen Read came out to address her supporters was loud and full of energy.

As she descended the courthouse steps to a podium, hundreds of people gathered screamed and cheered.

Read waved and made the American Sign Language gesture for “I love you,” something her supporters have been doing throughout the trial.

The supporters have congregated in recent days in a sea of pink outside the courthouse, waiting for a verdict.

People gather outside of the courthouse in Dedham on Wednesday

The crowd is made up of people (and pets) of all demographics, including kids and dogs.

The continued to cheer and chant until Read got into a car and drove away from the scene in Dedham, Massachusetts.

Supporters of Karen Read react to her verdict on Wednesday in Dedham.

Karen Read’s father Bill Read, speaking outside the courthouse in Dedham, Massachusetts, this afternoon acknowledged the strength of his daughter following the reading of the verdict.

“I want to acknowledge the strength of our daughter, Karen, the support of the entire Read extended family,” he said before going on to acknowledge what he called “the greatest team of attorneys.”

The jury in her second murder trial found her guilty of drunk driving, but not guilty of second-degree murder and leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death.

Karen Read speaks outside of the courthouse in Dedham, Massachusetts, on Wednesday.

Karen Read thanked her legal team after being found not guilty of killing her boyfriend, John O’Keefe in 2022.

Outside the courthouse, speaking to a crowd of people dressed in pink and firing off pink confetti, Read thanked her supporters.

She also said, “No one has fought harder for justice for John O’Keefe than I have. Than I have, and my team.”

Read’s defense had maintained that she had been framed and off-duty law enforcement officers were responsible for O’Keefe’s death.

Karen Read’s first murder trial ended in a mistrial after the jury deadlocked on the charges and reported it could not come to a unanimous verdict. This time around Read was acquitted of the most serious charge of second-degree murder as well as leaving the scene of an accident resulting in the death of her off-duty police officer boyfriend.

According to former litigator Lisa Bonner, the retrial verdict was different from the first due to the defense’s “vigorous cross-examination of the prosecution’s witnesses.”

“I think that they went a lot harder,” Bonner told CNN’s Jake Tapper.

She went on to note that “there was a lot of police misconduct that was brought to the front” and that it was “a very effective defense.”

Read was found guilty of drunk driving and was sentenced to one year of probation, but will not face jail time.

CNN’s Eric Levenson contributed reporting.

Karen Read is now speaking outside the courthouse after being acquitted of killing her boyfriend.

The jury in her second murder trial found her guilty of drunk driving, but not guilty of second-degree murder and leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death.

Read, as in her first murder trial, did not take the stand. However, jurors did hear her words when prosecutors played several clips from interviews and a documentary in which she participated.

The crowd outside the courthouse chants following the reading of Karen Read's verdict in Dedham, Massachusetts, on Wednesday.

The crowd outside the courthouse is chanting “Morrissey sucks,” referring to the Michael Morrissey, the Norfolk County district attorney who initially brought the murder charges against Karen Read.

Many in the crowd are wearing pink, in support of Read. They are holding up their phones and cheering, waiting for Read to come out of the courthouse.

They also started singing “God Bless America” at one point.

Karen Read will not spend any time in jail after being acquitted of the most serious charges during her second murder trial.

She will serve 1-year probation, according to the judge.

The only charge she was convicted of was drunk driving. Because Read is a first time offender, after the verdict was read, the judge agreed to the year of probation, which was the Commonwealth’s sentencing recommendation.

Karen Read hugs her attorney Robert Alessi after her verdict is read in court on Wednesday.

After the verdict was read in court, Karen Read hugged her lawyers and others supporting her in the courtroom.

Wearing a light blue suit, she appeared to be crying and holding a tissue as he greeted those standing behind the defense table.

A jury found Read was found not guilty for killing her boyfriend in 2022.

Supporters of Read outside the courthouse cheered loudly when they learned of the verdict from inside. Throughout both trials, Read’s supporters donned pink and championed her claims of innocence and echoed allegations of police corruption.

Karen Read, the Massachusetts woman accused of drunkenly striking her off-duty police officer boyfriend and leaving him to die in January 2022, was found guilty of drunk driving on Wednesday — though she was acquitted of the most serious charge of second-degree murder.

Read was also found not guilty of leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death.

She had pleaded not guilty to all charges, including vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. For the manslaughter charge, however, jurors were able to consider the lesser charges of involuntary manslaughter, motor vehicle homicide and operating under the influence.

She was sentenced to one-year probation. She was not sentenced to jail time.

Defendant Karen Read, second from left, defense attorneys and prosecutors meet at side bar with Judge Beverly Cannone, right, before closing arguments on June 13 in Dedham, Massachusetts.

The retrial of Karen Read was a rematch for the legal teams — a chance to prove their case after Read’s last trial ended with a hung jury.

Here’s who’s who:

The prosecution:

Among others, the defense includes:

The parties in Karen Read’s retrial for the death of John O’Keefe were summoned back to the courthouse in Dedham, Massachusetts, earlier today after jurors apparently indicated they had reached a verdict — only to change their minds by the time Judge Beverly Cannone returned to the bench.

The judge directed the court officer to place the verdict slip into an envelope and seal it. Cannone showed the envelope to the courtroom and said it would remain sealed and entered into the court record. She offered no details about what was included on the verdict slip, including whether it had been filled out.

Shortly after the jury said it had changed their minds, the jurors notified the court they actually did come to a verdict. It is expected to be read in court shortly.

Jurors have reached a verdict in Karen Read’s second murder trial, according to the Norfolk Superior Court clerk. Read is accused of killing her boyfriend Boston police officer John O’Keefe in 2022.

The jury deliberated for about 21 hours over four days.

Read has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder, vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and leaving the scene of a collision resulting in death. She faces up to life in prison if found guilty of second-degree murder.

The jury has reached a verdict in the second murder trial of Karen Read, but over their several days of deliberations, they sent some questions to the judge.

In one, jurors asked: “If we find not guilty on two charges but can’t agree on one charge, is it a hung jury on all three charges, or just one charge?”

Judge Beverly Cannone — who said the defense at first wanted her to ignore the question entirely — indicated that would be premature. She decided, over the defense’s objections, to send jurors a note saying, “This is a theoretical question, not a question I can answer.”

Read has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder, vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death.

The last trial: After Read’s first trial ended with a hung jury, her defense attorneys claimed several jurors had come forward to say they had unanimously found Read not guilty of the murder and leaving the scene counts, and had deadlocked only on the charge of vehicular manslaughter.

Some of the other questions included:

Supporters of Karen Read wait outside the Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Massachusetts, on June 17, 2025, for a jury to deliver a verdict in Read's second murder trial.

As the jury deliberated, supporters of Karen Read waited outside the Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Massachusetts.

The sharply divergent theories on each side have split these suburbs outside Boston for the better part of three years. On one side, Read’s supporters don pink, champion her claims of innocence and echo allegations of police corruption.

Supporters of Karen Read wait outside the Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Massachusetts, on June 17, 2025, for a jury to deliver a verdict in Read's second murder trial.

They have congregated in recent days in a sea of pink outside the courthouse, holding their hands up in the American Sign Language gesture for “I love you,” rather than loudly chant “Free Karen Read.”

Meanwhile, O’Keefe’s family and close friends, much more subdued, wear blue. But CNN has not seen them outside the courthouse among Read’s advocates, only glimpsing them as they walk into and out of the courthouse, escorted by law enforcement.

Karen Read supporters wait for verdict outside courthouse

00:18 - Source: CNN

Karen Read supporters wait for verdict outside courthouse

00:18

Prosecutor Hank Brennan, left, speaks to jurors during closing arguments on June 13 in Dedham, Massachusetts.

The closing arguments Friday mark the apex of not one, but two trials that have divided these suburbs south of Boston for the better part of three years, spawning a vocal contingent of court watchers who fiercely advocate for the defendant, echo her allegations of police corruption and chant, “Free Karen Read.”

Each side had one hour and 15 minutes on Friday to sum up their cases. Prosecutors tried to synthesize the many threads they explored into one compelling story, while the defense worked to seed enough “reasonable doubt” in jurors’ minds to convince them the Commonwealth failed to meet its burden of proof.

Both were hoping their version resonated with jurors to render a verdict in their side’s favor – something each side was denied at the conclusion of the first trial last July, when the jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict after four days of deliberating, forcing Massachusetts Superior Court Judge Beverly Cannone to declare a mistrial.

Read did not testify in either trial, though she appeared to consider the idea throughout the retrial. Prosecutors presented clips taken from interviews Read gave the media, trying to use her words against her to highlight inconsistencies in her account and bolster their theory.

Earlier in the second murder trial of Karen Read, prosecutors argued that 36 steps recorded by a health app could be pivotal in the case.

Read is on trial for allegedly backing her SUV into John O’Keefe, her boyfriend and a Boston police officer, killing him. The defense, however, is arguing O’Keefe was killed by other people inside the house.

The health app information — just one of the many pieces of data the commonwealth is using in its case — maps out O’Keefe’s last movements. Prosecutors called a forensic examiner to the stand, who testified about this location data to show O’Keefe didn’t go into the house.

Watch a recap of the critical evidence:

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Why 36 steps recorded by a health app could determine the Karen Read trial

01:34 - Source: CNN

Why 36 steps recorded by a health app could determine the Karen Read trial

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