A COP who made a sudden U-turn in her story as she testified for Karen Read’s high-profile murder trial has resigned from the force.
Kelly Dever stepped away from the Boston police months after Read’s attorney blasted her for recanting what she called a “distorted memory.”
Dever was working with the Canton Police Department alongside fellow cop John O’Keefe when he was found dead in the snow outside a friend’s home in 2022.
Read was accused of hitting O’Keefe with her car after she dropped him off and leaving him for dead, but she was found not guilty of murder charges in June.
The FBI interviewed Dever as part of a probe to review how Boston police handled the case.
She told them she had seen ATF agent Brian Higgins and former Canton Police Chief Kenneth Berkowitz with Read’s SUV in a police garage after O’Keefe’s death.
However, when she was asked to recall what she saw by Read’s attorney Alan Jackson during her second trial this summer, Dever called the story a “distorted memory.”
The cop said, “At this point it would be a lie,” and completely walked back the statement given to the FBI.
After her testimony, Jackson penned a letter to the Boston Police Department requesting that Dever be placed on the Brady List, which tracks officers with credibility issues.
Jackson argued that Dever’s testimony proved her credibility was “irreparably compromised.”
“Either Officer Dever lied about having a false memory, or she actually suffers from a condition that subjects her to false memories,” Jackson wrote in the letter obtained by Fox affiliate WFXT.
“Her reports, statements, and testimony can no longer be presumed accurate, and any case – current or prior- involving Officer Dever must be reviewed accordingly.”
Dever took medical leave after Read’s trial. Now, a personnel order released by the Canton Police Department shows her last day as an officer was September 1, MassLive reported.
It’s unclear why she resigned.
A timeline of Karen Read’s case
Karen Read, the Mansfield woman acquitted of fatally striking her cop boyfriend with her SUV in January 2022, began her retrial in April 2025.
A judge declared a mistrial on July 1, 2024, after a jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict after five days of deliberation.
- January 29, 2022: O’Keefe’s body is found outside of a friend’s home.
- February 1, 2022: Read was arrested and charged with manslaughter, motor vehicle homicide, and leaving the scene of a vehicle homicide.
- February 2, 2022: Read pleads not guilty in Stoughton District Court.
- June 9, 2022: A state grand jury indicts Read on upgraded charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter, and leaving the scene.
- April 12, 2023: Read’s attorneys publicly release court documents they say contain “bombshell exculpatory information,” including Jennifer McCabe’s Google search.
- Nov. 20, 2023: Residents of the divided community vote 903-800 to audit the Canton Police Department over the case.
- May 23, 2023: During another pre-trial hearing, the defense says that the murder of John O’Keefe is a massive cover-up involving members of law enforcement and their friends and family members.
- Feb. 22, 2024: Prosecutors unveil long-awaited results of crime scene evidence tests, alleging that O’Keefe’s DNA was recovered from the broken taillight of Read’s vehicle.
- April 12, 2024: Read’s defense attorneys say in court that Brian Albert, his son Colin Albert, and Brian Higgins could have each killed O’Keefe at the party that night.
- April 16, 2024: Read’s trial began in Massachusetts Superior Court.
- May 17, 2024: Jennifer McCabe, who was with Read when she discovered O’Keefe’s body, testifies that during their search, Read repeatedly said: “Did I hit him? Could I have hit him?” She also says Read later said when emergency workers were on the scene: “I hit him.”
- June 3, 2024: The defense accuses police of planting the shattered fragments of taillight from Read’s car at the scene of the crime.
- June 24, 2024: The defense rests their case.
- July 1, 2024: A judge declared a hung jury after five days of deliberation.
- April 22, 2025: Read’s second murder trial begins.
- June 18, 2025: Read is acquitted of second-degree murder and leaving the crime scene. She was only found guilty of drunk driving.
SEARCH FOR JUSTICE CONTINUES
While Read dodged murder charges, she was hit with a misdemeanor for driving under the influence and is serving one year of probation.
She was cleared despite 40 witnesses, including O’Keefe’s family, being called by prosecutors to testify against her.
Furious text messages read to the court show that Read and O’Keefe had a turbulent relationship, with prosecutors insisting the accused ex was angry enough to kill him.
However, defense lawyers argued that close-knit cops were behind the murder, and that a crooked department was conspiring to pin the charge on Read.
They claimed that O’Keefe got into a fight with fellow cops and that he died in the tussle.
After Read’s first trial ended with a mistrial, legal experts fear that it’s unlikely O’Keefe’s family will ever see justice.
Read has maintained that throughout proceedings, it’s been her goal for the justice system to uncover the truth behind her ex-lover’s death.
“No one had fought harder for justice for John O’Keefe than I have. Than I have, and my team,” she told reporters after her trial.
