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Karen Learn, the Massachusetts lady who was accused of killing her police officer boyfriend with a car in January 2022, faces a wrongful demise lawsuit filed towards her on Monday by the household of the sufferer.
Paul O’Keefe, the brother of late Boston Police officer John O’Keefe, filed the lawsuit on behalf of the O’Keefe household in Plymouth Superior Court docket.
Named alongside Learn are the 2 bars the couple consumed drinks at earlier than O’Keefe’s physique was present in a snowbank exterior a Canton house.
Learn’s trial led to July after a Massachusetts jury was deadlocked for days and couldn’t come to a unanimous determination about her innocence or guilt after 26 hours of deliberation.
KAREN READ ARRIVES AT MASSACHUSETTS COURT THROUGH SEA OF ‘COP KILLER’ CHANTS, SUPPORTERS IN FIGHT TO DROP CASE
Karen Learn departs Norfolk Superior Court docket in Dedham, Massachusetts, on Friday, August 9, 2024. Learn, who was accused of killing her Boston police officer boyfriend with a car in January 2022, was again in court docket Friday for a listening to discussing her protection staff’s movement to dismiss. (Patriot Pics/Backgrid for Fox Information Digital)
O’Keefe’s physique was present in a number of inches of snow exterior the house of Boston Police officer Brian Albert.
Prosecutors alleged Learn purposely backed into him along with her SUV throughout a booze-infused battle in January 2022 and let him die on the entrance garden throughout a nor’easter.
Learn claimed she was framed in an elaborate cover-up to guard the Alberts, an influential household with deep legislation enforcement ties.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR KAREN READ?
Karen A. Learn, girlfriend of the late Boston Police officer John O’Keefe, was arraigned in Norfolk Superior Court docket on prices of second diploma homicide in his demise on June 10, 2022. A photograph of the couple collectively was introduced by the protection to the prosecution. (John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe through Getty Photos)
She pleaded not responsible to prices of second-degree homicide, motorcar manslaughter whereas driving beneath the affect and leaving the scene of a collision inflicting damage and demise.
An post-mortem discovered O’Keefe died of blunt drive trauma and hypothermia.
Within the lawsuit filed Monday, which was obtained by FOX 25 in Boston, the O’Keefe household alleges Learn “meant the reckless conduct,” which led to John’s demise. The 2 bars named within the lawsuit, C.F. McCarthy’s and the Waterfall Bar & Grill, are accused by the household of negligently serving alcohol to an intoxicated particular person, or Learn on this case, the household alleged.
KAREN READ TRIAL COULD SINK OTHER HIGH-PROFILE MURDERS, EXPERT WARNS: ‘HARD TO SEE HOW IT DOESN’T’
Karen Learn smiles throughout a information convention in entrance of Norfolk Superior Court docket, Monday, July 1, 2024, in Dedham, Mass. A choose declared a mistrial Monday after jurors deadlocked within the case of Learn, who was accused of killing her Boston Police officer boyfriend by putting him along with her SUV and leaving him in a snowstorm. (AP Photograph/Steven Senne)
Moreover, the O’Keefes accuse Learn of “deliberately and/or recklessly” inflicting “extreme emotional misery” on John’s 14-year-old niece on the morning of Jan. 29, 2022, when she knowledgeable {the teenager} “she hit her uncle or {that a} snow plow hit her uncle.”
“Learn’s conduct was excessive and outrageous, past the bounds of decency, and was totally insupportable,” the lawsuit learn.
The O’Keefe household additionally accuses Learn’s protection staff of “outrageously” making a “false narrative.”
Earlier this month, Learn was again in court docket for a listening to to debate her protection staff’s movement to dismiss the case.
WATCH: DASHCAM FROM THE NIGHT JOHN O’KEEFE WAS FOUND DEAD
Karen Learn waits as her authorized staff meets throughout her trial in Norfolk Superior Court docket, Friday, June 14, 2024, in Dedham, Mass. Learn, 44, is accused of operating into her Boston Police officer boyfriend along with her SUV in the course of a nor’easter and leaving him for lifeless after an evening of heavy consuming. (AP Photograph/Charles Krupa, Pool)
Legal professional Martin Weinberg argued for Learn in court docket on Friday. Attorneys Alan Jackson and David Yannetti beforehand argued that two of three prices filed towards Learn, 44, together with second-degree homicide and leaving the scene of a deadly accident, ought to be dismissed following a mistrial in June.
Her legal professionals advised Decide Beverly J. Cannone that jurors reportedly agreed that Learn was not responsible on two of the fees, and that one other trial would topic Learn to “double jeopardy.”
Prosecutors plan to retry Learn in January. Cannone heard arguments from either side and stated she would take them beneath advisement, with out making a call that day.
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Jackson and Yannetti argued in the course of the June trial that accusations towards Learn alleging she killed her boyfriend have been a part of an elaborate cover-up and body job.
Particularly, Learn’s protection claimed the household who owned the house the place O’Keefe was discovered lifeless within the snow on the morning of Jan. 29, 2022, framed her for his demise in an elaborate cover-up.
Fox Information Digital’s Chris Eberhart, Audrey Conklin and Julia Bonavita contributed to this report.
Greg Wehner is a breaking information reporter for Fox Information Digital.
Story suggestions and might be despatched to Greg.Wehner@Fox.com and on Twitter @GregWehner.
