Karen Read’s parents said they no longer live in fear that their notorious daughter could spend the rest of her life behind bars now that she’s been acquitted of killing her Boston cop boyfriend John O’Keefe.
Bill and Janet Read are finally able to breathe a sigh of relief more than three years after their daughter was accused of striking her 46-year-old boyfriend with her Lexus SUV in a drunken stupor and leaving him for dead outside a Canton, Mass., house party in January 2022.
“Coming to grips with the idea, that fear that we could lose Karen to incarceration given the charges is now gone, that fear has abated,” Bill told WBZ-TV, explaining that he and his wife hadn’t mentally prepared for a guilty verdict.
“We always said let’s not go too far out in our thoughts, let’s keep day to day,” Janet said.
“We feel like we should know how we feel but we don’t.”
The financial analyst was only convicted of drunk driving Wednesday, dodging more serious charges like second-degree murder and manslaughter in her second trial in the high-profile case.
Karen Read’s first trial, which drew national attention and was riddled with controversy, ended in a mistrial.
The grateful parents, who were in the courtroom everyday, said they drew their strength from their 45-year-old daughter, praising her as the defense’s “fifth lawyer” for relentlessly chasing down every lead.
“She’s determined, she’s focused, very bright, she got us through this,” Bill told the outlet, adding that the murder case’s notoriety and “dehumanizing” comments from spectators forced them to live a more secluded life.
“From this day forward, we recognize we are fortunate but we were blessed by the almighty that this, we were able to have this and now it’s imperative that others need help, that we can speak out.”
The supportive parents also admitted that their lives — and their daughter’s — will never be the same after the years-long courtroom spectacle, but said they are now focused on getting back to normal.
Janet hopes her daughter will channel her wit and experience into writing a book.
“She’s an excellent writer, she’s always been,” Janet said.
“I always thought she should go into journalism and she wanted finance.”
