A tragic incident in Plymouth, Massachusetts has resulted in a wrongful death lawsuit being filed by the family of a police officer against the woman accused of causing his death. The lawsuit also targets two bars where the accused and the victim had been drinking on the night of the incident.
The lawsuit alleges that the death of John O'Keefe was a result of the actions of Karen Read, who is accused of hitting O'Keefe with her vehicle and leaving him to die in the snow. It further claims that the bars were negligent in serving alcohol to Read despite signs of intoxication.
According to the lawsuit, the first bar served Read seven alcoholic drinks in a span of 90 minutes on the night of January 28, 2022. Read then carried her last drink into the second bar, where she was served additional alcoholic beverages within an hour.
The lawsuit does not specify the amount of alcohol O'Keefe consumed that night before getting into Read's SUV. The legal action was filed in Plymouth Superior Court by Paul O’Keefe on behalf of his family and his brother’s estate, naming Read, the Waterfall Bar & Grill, and C.F. McCarthy’s as defendants. The lawsuit seeks a jury trial.
Read, who has pleaded not guilty, is awaiting a retrial scheduled for January 27 on charges including second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating a motor vehicle under the influence, and leaving the scene of a fatal accident. Her initial criminal trial ended in a mistrial in July after jurors were deadlocked on the charges.
Following the night of drinking, Read dropped off O’Keefe, a 16-year veteran of the Boston police force, outside the home of another police officer in Canton. O’Keefe’s body was later discovered in the front yard, with the cause of death determined to be hypothermia and blunt force trauma.
Read's defense team has argued that O’Keefe was killed inside the home and that she was wrongfully accused due to being an 'outsider.' The lawsuit alleges that Read and O'Keefe had been involved in an argument and that Read was aware she had hit him with her SUV before returning to his residence.
The tragic incident has left a community in mourning and raised important questions about accountability and responsibility in cases of alcohol-related accidents.
