Karen Read Update: Family of John O'Keefe sues woman accused of killing Boston police officer's boyfriend

BOSTON– The family of a Boston police officer whose death is at the center of the Karen Read murder case has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against her and two Massachusetts bars they visited before his death.

John O'Keefe III, 46, was found dead outside a home in Canton, Massachusetts, on the morning of Jan. 29, 2022, police said. The civil lawsuit filed Monday alleges that his girlfriend, Read, hit him with her car while drunk and left him for dead.

In the lawsuit, in which O'Keefe's brother, parents and niece are also plaintiffs, Read and two bars – CF McCarthy's and Waterfall Bar and Grille – are sued for unspecified damages, alleging wrongful death and negligent infliction of emotional distress.

Read's attorney told ABC News that her defense attorney would not comment on the lawsuit at this time.

SEE ALSO | Judge refuses to dismiss Karen Read murder case after July mistrial

A representative for CF McCarthy's did not respond to ABC News' request for comment. ABC News was unable to reach the owner of Waterfall Bar and Grille.

The lawsuit comes after a judge last month threw out the trial of Read, who was charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter while under the influence of alcohol and hit-and-run. She had pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutors alleged she hit O'Keefe with her car and left him to die in the middle of a snowstorm after the two got into an argument earlier in the day.

Judge Beverly Cannone declared the case vacated on July 1 after the jury failed to reach a unanimous consensus on the fifth day of deliberations. The Norfolk District Attorney's Office said it plans to retry the case. The new trial is set to begin on January 27, 2025.

Cannone last week denied a motion to drop two of the charges against Read – second-degree murder and hit-and-run – at retrial. Read's lawyers had argued in court filings that a retrial would violate double jeopardy protections because the jury had unanimously decided to acquit Read of the charges based on subsequent testimony from four jurors.

In her ruling released on Friday, Cannone concluded that there was no case of double jeopardy “since the defendant was not acquitted of any charges and the defense attorney agreed with the court's finding that the trial did not take place.”

Read has strongly denied the allegations and her lawyers claimed that a police colleague was involved in O'Keefe's death and worked with others in a cover-up.

READ MORE | Fourth juror confirms Karen Read was found not guilty on two counts; police officer Michael Proctor suspended

The lawsuit alleges that the relationship between Read and O'Keefe “deteriorated” in the months before his death, during which time Read “started arguments, was jealous, and suffered from delusions of infidelity.”

Read was served seven alcoholic drinks over the course of about an hour and a half on the evening of Jan. 28, 2022, while she was at CF McCarthy's with O'Keefe, and she “exhibited signs of intoxication,” the lawsuit says. The lawsuit then alleges she took her drink and went to Waterfall, where she was served a liquor and an alcoholic mixed drink before leaving with O'Keefe shortly after midnight and driving him to an apartment in Canton.

The lawsuit alleges the two had an argument and she “drove her SUV and struck O'Keefe,” then fled the scene and went to O'Keefe's house. The lawsuit alleges Read returned to the house later that morning and found him “lying on the ground, buried in the snow where she had previously left him to die.” O'Keefe suffered traumatic injuries before becoming hypothermic, the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit alleges that the two bars negligently served alcohol to an intoxicated person and that Read “intended the reckless conduct that resulted in [O’Keefe’s] Injuries/death.”

The suit also alleges that Read “intentionally and/or recklessly inflicted severe emotional distress” on O'Keefe's then-14-year-old niece, who was in his care. Read allegedly returned to his home, woke the teenager up and told her that something had happened to her uncle, that “she had hit her uncle or a snow plow had hit her uncle,” according to the suit.

The video in the player above is from an earlier report.