Jury continues to deliberate in Karen Read murder trial

DEDHAM, Mass. (WLNE) — We could soon have a verdict in the Karen Read murder trial.

Closing arguments wrapped up Tuesday afternoon, and the jury started deliberations in Norfolk County Superior Court.

Many people are on the edge of their seats as they wait to see if the jury of 12 finds 44-year-old Read guilty of the murder of her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe.

Read is facing a second-degree murder charge and has pleaded not guilty in the trial that has now lasted two months.

Read is accused of hitting O’Keefe with her SUV outside of a home in Canton back in January 2022 and then leaving him to die in the cold during a snowstorm.

The defense has consistently argued Read is the victim of a cover-up involving Massachusetts State Police.

“You have been lied to in this courtroom and your job is to make sure you don’t ever look the other way,” defense attorney Alan Jackson said to the jury. “Your singular duty is to stare down the evidence and do it unflinchingly and unwaveringly.”

If the jury finds her guilty, she could face a maximum of life in prison.

“‘I hit him, I hit him, I hit him, I hit him,'” prosecutor Adam Lally said to the jury. “Those are the words of the defendant four times you heard testimony from four different witnesses.”

Each side had an hour to give its closing arguments to the jury on Tuesday.