After two trials, hours of testimony and impassioned protests on both sides of the case, Karen Read has been found not guilty of killing her Massachusetts police officer boyfriend, John O’Keefe.

The jury found Read not guilty on two more serious charges: second-degree murder and leaving the scene of a collision resulting in death. She was found guilty of operating a vehicle under the influence and sentenced to one year’s probation.

A 12-person jury handed down the verdict on June 18 after roughly 20 hours of deliberating and more than 30 days of testimony, marking a conclusion in the case that captured nationwide attention through years of court proceedings. Read’s first trial ended in a hung jury last year.

O’Keefe died in Canton, Massachusetts, a suburb 15 miles south of Boston, after being found unresponsive on a fellow officer’s lawn on Jan. 29, 2022.

Prosecutors alleged Read hit O’Keefe with her SUV and left him for dead. Read’s defense claimed a cover-up by some of O’Keefe’s fellow officers.

The 45-year-old pleaded not guilty to three charges: second-degree murder, vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and leaving the scene of a collision resulting in death.

Here’s a full timeline of the case, as reported by USA TODAY and the USA TODAY Network.

Catch up on Karen Read trial Who is Karen Read and why is she on trial again?

Jan. 28, 2022: Karen Read and John O’Keefe go out drinking

Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe, his girlfriend Karen Read and a group of other friends, including fellow officers, went out drinking at C.F. McCarthy’s bar in Canton, Massachusetts at around 9 p.m. A major snowstorm had begun.

Around 11 p.m., the group moved to the nearby Waterfall Bar & Grille.

Jan. 29, 2022: John O’Keefe dies

After leaving the bar, a group decided to meet at the house of Brian Albert, a fellow Boston Police Department officer. Read drove O’Keefe to the home, despite having been drinking, which she admitted in interviews later.

Between 12:15 and 12:45 a.m., multiple witnesses inside the home reported seeing a dark SUV outside. Read said she dropped O’Keefe off and watched him enter the home, while witnesses inside the home said that he never entered.

Read began calling and texting O’Keefe to see if they would be staying, but did not receive a response. She returned to his house and continued calling him, to no response.

Around 5 a.m., O’Keefe’s niece called Jennifer McCabe, one of his friends who had been with the group earlier that night. The niece said O’Keefe hadn’t returned home and Read thought she had left him at the Waterfall, McCabe testified. By 5:30 a.m., McCabe, Read and another friend, Kerry Roberts, went out to look for O’Keefe.

Around 6 a.m., the women spotted O’Keefe lying unresponsive in the snow on Albert’s lawn. Phone records show McCabe Googled “hos (sic) long to die in cold” at some point that morning. McCabe said Read asked her to search it when they found O’Keefe’s body; the defense said she searched it hours before his body was found.

First responders were called. Upon their arrival, McCabe and a paramedic testified in both trials that Read said, “I hit him, I hit him, I hit him.” However, Read — and McCabe’s previous testimony to a grand jury — said she instead asked, “Could I have hit him?”

O’Keefe was taken to an area hospital and pronounced dead at 7:59 a.m.

Jan. 31, 2022: John O’Keefe’s autopsy results

According to the medical examiner’s autopsy of O’Keefe’s body, his cause of death was consistent with blunt force trauma to the head and hypothermia, with no “obvious signs of an altercation or a fight.”

O’Keefe’s manner of death was ruled “undetermined.”

Prosecutors later alleged Read hit O’Keefe with her SUV, killing him. The defense said other cops beat him up and framed her for his killing, citing marks on his arms resembling those of an animal attack.

Feb. 1, 2022: Karen Read arrested

Read is arrested and charged with motor vehicle homicide, manslaughter and leaving the scene of a motor vehicle collision causing death. She pleaded not guilty the following day and was released after posting $50,000 cash bail.

Feb. 7, 2022: John O’Keefe’s funeral

O’Keefe’s funeral is held at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Braintree, Massachusetts. Hundreds of people, including dozens of Boston police officers, gathered to pay their respects, and a large American flag hung outside the church.

“Moving forward, I will do my best to continue his legacy of caring and supporting others … even though I know I will never come close to the way he did,” Paul O’Keefe said in the eulogy for his brother.

June 9, 2022: Karen Read indicted

Read is indicted by a grand jury on charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating under the influence of alcohol and leaving the scene of personal injury and death.

She pleaded not guilty at Norfolk Superior Court and posted $100,000 bail.

First Karen Read trial See a full timeline of key moments in first John O’Keefe murder trial

April-July 2024: First trial

The first trial of Karen Read in the murder of John O’Keefe began with jury selection on April 16, 2024. Opening statements were delivered in the case on April 29, 2024, with testimony beginning that day.

After nearly two months of testimony, the prosecution rested its case on June 21, 2024. The defense rested its case three days later, on June 24, 2024.

On June 25, 2024, both sides delivered closing arguments, and the jury began deliberations.

After five days of deliberations, on July 1, 2024, Judge Beverly Cannone declared a mistrial after the jury said they were “deeply divided.”

July 8, 2024: Read’s attorneys push to dismiss two charges

Read’s defense attorneys filed a motion seeking to dismiss the charges for second-degree murder and leaving the scene of an accident with injury or death.

The attorneys said the jury had agreed unanimously that Read was not guilty of those charges, so a retrial on those counts would violate double jeopardy protections.

Prosecutors argued that the defense had the chance to object to the declaration of a mistrial at the time and did not. Cannone ruled Read could be retried on all charges.

Read’s defense team later appealed the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to review the petition.

Aug. 26, 2024: John O’Keefe’s family files wrongful death lawsuit

O’Keefe’s estate filed a wrongful death civil lawsuit in Plymouth Superior Court against Read and Canton bars C.F. McCarthy’s and the Waterfall.

The suit is seeking at least $50,000 in damages and alleges that Read “outrageously created a false narrative.”

Read’s counsel filed a motion to stay the civil case until the end of the criminal case. Judge William White Jr. ordered a pause on any other discovery directly related to Read in November 2024.

April 1, 2025: Karen Read’s second trial begins

The second trial began with jury selection on April 1. The selection process took 10 days, with hundreds of people being summoned to Norfolk Superior Court during that timeframe.

Nine women and nine men were seated on the jury, including six who would ultimately serve as alternates. They were told the case would take between six to eight weeks.

April 22, 2025: Opening statements and witness testimony begins

Prosecutor Hank Brennan’s opening statements recounted a paramedic who said he heard Read say, “I hit him. I hit him. I hit him.”

“It was at that time that she, the defendant, admitted what she had done that night. That she had hit John O’Keefe,” Brennan said. “John O’Keefe was killed by the actions and conduct of the defendant Karen Read.”

Defense attorney Alan Jackson’s opening arguments started with, “There was no collision with John O’Keefe.” Jackson went on to say the police investigation was marred by “bias,” “incompetence” and “deceit.”

Two witnesses took the stand on the first day, including Roberts and one of the paramedics who responded to the scene.

April 23-June 11, 2025: Witness testimony

More than 40 witnesses testified over 30 days in the second Read trial. Here’s a full list:

June 13, 2025: Closing arguments and jury deliberations begin

After 30 days of testimony, the prosecution and defense laid out their closing arguments.

Brennan started by laying out the commonwealth’s case in three sentences: “She was drunk. She hit him. And she left him to die.” He told jurors that Read and O’Keefe had a “toxic relationship,” asserting that the data presented in the case backs Read as the sole perpetrator for O’Keefe’s death.

Jackson’s closing arguments also started with a pointed statement: “There was no collision. There was no collision.” He said they were being asked to “stare down injustice” and were the “last line of defense between an innocent woman and a system that has tried to break her.”

Cannone read the jury instructions for their deliberations and the group had about two hours to begin discussing the case.

June 16 & 17, 2025: Jury deliberations continue, questions answered

The jury returned on June 16 for a full day of deliberations. The following day, they asked four questions of the judge:

The first question asked about the time frame for the operating under the influence charge.

The second question asked whether Read’s video interviews are evidence and how they can be considered.

The third question asked whether convicting on a lesser charge would be a conviction on the overriding count.

The fourth question asked whether they would be considered a hung jury if they found Read not guilty on two charges but couldn’t agree on a third.

June 18, 2025: Jury reaches verdict, Read acquitted on murder charge

Around 2 p.m. local time on June 18, the jury notified a court officer that they had reached a verdict. Before the parties were called back into the courtroom, however, the jury reversed course and said they had not reached a verdict.

Shortly after Cannone announced that the initial verdict slip would not constitute a final say from the jury, they came to a decision.

After just under 20 hours of deliberating, the 12-person jury found Read not guilty on charges of second-degree murder and leaving the scene of a collision resulting in death.

She was found guilty of operating a vehicle under the influence and sentenced to one year’s probation.

Cheers erupted from outside the courthouse as the clerk read the charges shortly before 3 p.m. local time. Read hugged her legal counsel, while O’Keefe’s family quickly left the courtroom.

Contributing: Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA TODAY

Melina Khan is a national trending reporter for USA TODAY. She can be reached at melina.khan@usatoday.com.