Kelly Dever, a controversial witness in the Karen Read murder retrial who testified to having a “false memory,” has resigned from the Boston Police Department.
Dever’s resignation became effective on Sept. 1, according to a personnel order the department just released. The order does not detail the circumstances of the officer’s departure.
“The resignation of Police Officer Kelly Dever, ID# 173471, assigned to BAT/Leave of Absence Section, Org. #36135, after being presented, is hereby effective September 1, 2025,” the order states.
Dever, who earned $143,561.65 in total pay last year, per city payroll records, did not testify in the first Read murder trial. Her testimony in the retrial this past spring, though, cast doubt on her truthfulness.
Dever was working as a patrol officer in Canton when Read’s Boston police officer boyfriend, John O’Keefe, died in the early morning of Jan. 29, 2022.
Read’s defense attorney Alan Jackson brought Dever to the stand, questioning her over how she initially told federal investigators that she saw witness Brian Higgins and then-Canton Police Chief Kenneth Berkowitz enter the police department garage and spend a “wildly long time” with Read’s SUV.
This gave credence to the defense’s theory that police tampered with the evidence, including the busted taillight, pieces of which were later found at the crime scene, at 34 Fairview Road.
Dever said she later recanted this statement as a “false memory” after being shown a timeline of events that proved that it wasn’t possible.
In a letter to Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox, Jackson demanded that the department place Dever on its Brady list, which tracks officers whose credibility has been anthem due to alleged misconduct.
Jackson said Dever’s “false memory” claim “irreparably compromised” her credibility as an officer. The attorney said that the department would have had to disclose information surrounding the assertion for future cases in which she is a witness.
“Her reports, statements, and testimony can no longer be presumed accurate, and any case — current or prior — involving Officer Dever must be reviewed accordingly,” Jackson wrote in the letter this summer.
“In either case,” he added, “her credibility and reliability as a law enforcement officer are irreparably compromised. If she lied under oath, Officer Dever is guilty of perjury. If she truly suffers from false memories, she is unfit to serve as a police officer.”
Read, 45, had faced up to life in prison if convicted of second-degree murder, the best-level offense charged against her. She was also charged with manslaughter while operating a motor vehicle under the influence of liquor and leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death.
Prosecutors accused Read of backing up into O’Keefe, her boyfriend of two years, with her SUV, leaving him to freeze and die on the front yard of a Canton home where the pair was supposed to continue a night out after the bars closed that cold, snowy early January morning.
The jury cleared Read of killing O’Keefe, charging her with just drunken driving.
Dever’s testimony also led to Cox facing backlash as the BPD commissioner. In July, he told reporters that he “didn’t know” that one of his officers was associated with the Karen Read case, contradicting his subordinate, who testified in the retrial that he told her to “tell the truth up here.”
Cox also said he had “nothing to do with Karen Read,” denying accusations from the defense that he influenced Dever’s testimony.
During her direct examination, Dever testified that Cox called her into his office and that the commissioner told her the department would support her and to tell the truth.
“As a matter of fact, I didn’t even know this person was associated with the Karen Read case,” Cox said of Dever. “You know, I have an organization full of over 3,000 people, and we support all our folks.
“And the reality is that I get information passed on, whether those people are high or low, and I encourage everyone,” the commissioner added. “And if you’re going to work here and you belong here, then we’re going to encourage you. I have no idea what they’re talking about with Karen Read.”
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