DEDHAM, MASS. (WHDH) - The woman accused of killing her boyfriend, a Boston police officer, in January of last year broke her silence Wednesday, speaking publicly for the first time as she faces charges connected to her boyfriend’s death.
Prosecutors have said Read ran over her boyfriend, John O’Keefe, with her SUV back in January, 2022 after a night of drinking. Read, prosecutors said, then left the scene.
Read’s lawyers, though, have maintained O’Keefe was attacked by a dog and beaten inside a Canton home after Read dropped him off and drove away.
Speaking this week, Read proclaimed her innocence.
“I tried to save his life,” she told reporters outside the courthouse in Dedham. “I tried to save his life at 6 in the morning. I was covered in his blood. I was the only one trying to save his life.”
Read has been charged with charges including second-degree murder. She has pleaded not guilty.
In April, her defense filed a motion asking for records they believe exonerate their client.
The prosecution later responded, saying the defense is trying to further a conspiracy theory.
“We know who did it,” Read said on Wednesday.
“No, she didn’t do it,” her attorney Alan Jackson added. “This is an innocent woman.”
Read, 42, and her legal team were in court pushing for an evidentiary hearing to force two other people connected to the case to testify.
Frustrated by the judge’s decision to deny their request, Read’s attorneys indicated they have no plans to back off until their client is exonerated.
“We’re not going to rest until we get to the bottom of exactly who is behind this cover up because not only Karen Read deserves this, John O’Keefe deserves this and has deserved this since moment one,” Jackson said.
“It feels we’re the only ones fighting for the truth of what happened to John O’Keefe,” Read said. “And me and my family and my attorneys and my team have marshaled every resource to get to the truth. It just feels like no one else wants it.”
Read remains free on bail and is due back in court in July.
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