A mother’s heartbreak took center stage in a Massachusetts courtroom this week as Peggy O’Keefe testified in the trial of Karen Read, the woman accused of killing her son, Boston police officer John O’Keefe.
Peggy, in tearful testimony, shared how she learned her son had been found unresponsive in a snowbank on the morning of January 29, 2022.
“She said, ‘John was found in a snowbank,’” Peggy recalled from a phone call she received around 6 a.m. from one of John’s friends.
“I didn’t understand. I said, ‘What do you mean?’ She’s like: ‘Found him in the snow. They don’t know what happened.’”
Karen Read, 45, is facing charges including second-degree murder and motor vehicle manslaughter. Prosecutors claim she reversed her SUV and struck John, leaving him outside the home of Brian Albert, a fellow officer.
Defense attorneys argue that Read is being framed and that others at the party inside Albert’s home are responsible for his death.
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In court, Peggy recounted riding to the hospital with Read and her son’s friend. When asked what happened to John, Read allegedly admitted she had left him at the party. “You just left him there?” Peggy recalled asking. “She said, ‘Yes, I just left him there.’”
Later, at the hospital, Peggy said Read started yelling, “Is he dead?”
The trial also explored a controversial video clip from a documentary where Read claimed Peggy said her son “looked like he got hit by a car.” Peggy denied ever making the comment.
Prosecutors hope the clip will be admitted as evidence, arguing it shows Read’s guilt. Defense lawyers counter that it’s hearsay and irrelevant.
With courtroom drama and raw emotion, the case has gripped public attention. The trial continues, as both sides present clashing narratives in the search for truth behind a tragic winter morning.
