Woman Charged For Drunkenly Hitting Cop Boyfriend With Car; Victim Froze To Death Outside

A Massachusetts woman has been accused of striking her police officer boyfriend with her vehicle and leaving him in the cold after a night of drinking.

Karen Read, 41, pleaded not guilty to manslaughter, motor vehicle homicide and leaving the scene of a motor vehicle collision causing death Wednesday in connection to the death of Boston police officer John O'Keefe.

Read and O'Keefe had visited two bars early Saturday morning before she dropped him off at a house party in Canton around 12.45 a.m. Read, who was an equity analyst and adjunct professor of finance at Bentley University, told the investigators she made a three-point turn, and left the premise but did not see O'Keefe head into the house, WBZ-TV.

When O'Keefe failed to return in the morning, Read grew concerned. She allegedly called him several times with no response. While a blizzard approached, Read reached out to friends to help her figure out what had happened. At one point, Read allegedly said "Could I have hit him? Did I hit him?"

They found O'Keefe lying on the ground where he was dropped off. He was unconscious, bleeding from his nose and mouth and had sustained cuts on his arms and head from when Read's car slammed into him. The trio called 911 and administered CPR on O'Keefe. He was rushed to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

An autopsy report revealed O'Keefe had suffered hypothermia and skull fracture.

Read's friend told the police she was intoxicated in the morning, and did not remember what had happened during the night, New York Post reported.

Read's bail had been set at $50,000. She was released Wednesday after the bail was paid. Her attorney had asked the judge to lower the amount, citing her severe medical condition, including a brain tumor and multiple sclerosis. The judge denied it, saying Read "has plenty of reason to flee."

O'Keefe's family said the victim had been raising his niece and nephew after their parents passed away.

"People talk about someone who would give you the shirt off their back but that was truly who John was, and it is heartbreaking for us to suddenly be talking about him in the past tense," O'Keefe's family said to WBZ-TV.

The Boston police remembered O'Keefe as a kind person, who would be greatly missed by coworkers.