(NewsNation) — Witness testimony resumed Wednesday in the retrial of Karen Read, a Massachusetts woman accused of striking her police officer boyfriend with her car and leaving him to die in a snowstorm in 2022.
Read has been charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating a vehicle under the influence and leaving the scene.
Prosecutors are relying on witnesses from the scene in the early days of the trial, counting on testimony from police officers and firefighters who recalled Read making comments that implicated her in the killing.
They are also introducing evidence of a broken taillight on Read’s SUV that prosecutors argue was damaged when she hit John O’Keefe and possible DNA from O’Keefe found on her vehicle.
The trial has sparked debate over police accountability, and a mistrial was declared last year after jurors said they were at an impasse and deliberating further would be futile.
O’Keefe’s friend testifies
Kerry Roberts, a close friend of O’Keefe’s, was one of two women with Read when she found the officer lying lifeless in the snow.
The prosecution questioned Roberts on Tuesday about her memories of the discovery of O’Keefe’s body, including damage to the taillight of Read’s vehicle.
Roberts, back on the stand Wednesday, testified that Read pointed out the taillight damage and confirmed that Read said, “Do you think I hit him?” in reference to the damage. Roberts also testified about receiving a panicked phone call from Read on the morning O’Keefe was found dead.
“When she first called she said, ‘John’s dead, Kerry, Kerry,’ and she hung up,” Roberts said.
The defense also questioned Roberts on Wednesday and sought to portray her as having changed her story and made false statements to a grand jury.
Prosecution blames Read
Several witnesses testified Tuesday after prosecutors and defense lawyers delivered opening statements in which they addressed theories about the death of John O’Keefe.
During opening statements, a prosecutor said the defendant’s own words will bolster evidence that she killed O’Keefe three years ago.
A defense attorney on Tuesday called the case “the definition of reasonable doubt.”
The defense’s goal is to raise doubts about the prosecution case and plant the seed that she was framed. They are expected to suggest that a hair found on the taillight was planted and the police investigation was marred by a conflict of interest.
Karen Read case: What to know about John O’Keefe’s death
Prosecutors alleged Read and O’Keefe had been drinking heavily before she dropped him off at a party at the home of Brian Albert, a fellow Boston officer, on Jan. 29, 2022.
After letting him out of the car, they allege Read struck O’Keefe with her SUV before driving away.
O’Keefe was found unresponsive in a snowbank outside the home the next morning. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital after suffering from hypothermia and a head injury, officials said.
Prosecutors have alleged Read intentionally struck O’Keefe because their relationship had soured in the month leading up to his death.
Read’s defense attorneys have dismissed that narrative, saying instead that several other officers are behind O’Keefe’s death and have colluded with other cops to cover up his death by framing his girlfriend.
NewsNation’s Anna Kutz, Caitlyn Becker, Safia Samee Ali, Jeff Arnold and The Associated Press contributed to this report.