Massachusetts native Elizabeth Banks is set to star in a new television series about Karen Read.
The not-yet-titled series will be on Prime Video, according to an announcement from Amazon MGM Studios. Banks, a four-time Emmy nominee who hails from Pittsfield, will both star and produce the series that is inspired by the Law&Crime podcast “Karen.”
Read’s case, which spurred both national and international media attention, has already prompted an HBO documentary and a Lifetime original movie.
The former Fidelity employee and adjunct professor was thrust into the spotlight after being charged with second-degree murder for the death of her boyfriend Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe.
O’Keefe was found outside the Canton home of another Boston cop in the snow during a blizzard in the early hours of January 29, 2022. He had blunt force trauma to his head and was experiencing hypothermia, eventually succumbing to his injuries at a nearby hospital.
Read has said she dropped O’Keefe off the night before and went out into the storm the next morning with friends when she realized he hadn’t returned home.
She was eventually charged with second-degree murder, with prosecutors alleging that she’d hit O’Keefe with her SUV then drove away. Read’s defense, led by attorneys Alan Jackson and David Yannetti, argued that Read was set up and presented evidence at trial of an inadequate police investigation and bias on the part of investigators.
During both proceedings, jurors heard crude and misogynistic text messages lead investigator and former State Police Trooper Michael Proctor wrote to other officers about Read, expressing his belief that she was guilty hours after O’Keefe was found in the snow and making comments about her appearance and health issues.
Read’s first trial ended in a hung jury and she was acquitted of all major charges last year except for drunk driving.
The case helped drive a shake-up at the Mass State Police, the agency that investigated Read, and has led to a series of civil suits from Read and others that are still pending.
O’Keefe’s family is suing Read for wrongful death, witnesses who testified against her at trial are suing Read for defamation, and Read is suing the witnesses, several police officers, and both the Mass State Police and Canton Police for allegedly taking away her civil rights and conspiring against her.
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