Photo: Chaiel Schaffel/WBZ NewsRadio
PLYMOUTH, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — A judge in Plymouth Superior Court has thrown out one claim in a wrongful death lawsuit against Karen Read.
The tossed claim was for negligent infliction of emotional distress, and was asserted by former Boston Police Officer John O'Keefe's niece. She was 14 years old and in O'Keefe's care at the time of his death.
Lawyers for Read had argued that all emotional distress-related claims should be dropped because family members were not there for the death or the immediate aftermath. Judge Daniel O'Shea allowed all the claims to stand except one.
O'Shea wrote that according to the complaint, O'Keefe's niece did not actually learn of her uncle's death or injury when she was woken up by Read at 4:30 a.m. on Jan. 29, 2022, "but instead learned he was maybe injured at the time." Therefore, O'Shea said, the claim did not meet the criteria for negligent infliction of emotional distress.
O'Shea said the niece could claim reckless infliction of emotional distress because her interactions with Read that morning "can also be plausibly characterized as extreme and outrageous." The judge also said her claim of intentional emotional distress can stand because the niece had already lost a parent and Read "knew or should have known that her conduct" would cause emotional distress.
The O'Keefe Family is looking for damages from Read and from two Canton bars. Meantime, Read's lawyers are considering suing parties they say framed her in O'Keefe's death.
O'Keefe's body was found in the snow outside of a home in Canton in January of 2022. Read was accused of hitting him with her SUV and leaving him for dead. She was acquitted of all charges except for OUI at the end of her criminal retrial in June.