Commonwealth v. Read — Trial ArchiveMatthew Kelly
Testimony Impact
Matthew Kelly was a Canton firefighter-paramedic with two months on the job when he responded to a call for an unresponsive male on Fairview Road on January 29, 2022. He performed CPR on John O'Keefe, observed his injuries in the ambulance, and transported him to Good Samaritan Hospital. His testimony documented O'Keefe's physical condition at discovery — frozen, pulseless, with a swollen black eye and lacerations — and addressed statements made by the women at the scene.
Challenges & Responses
What attorneys challenged during examination and how the witness responded.
Kelly's account was not significantly challenged on credibility grounds. Yannetti's cross focused on what Kelly heard at the scene and on clothing chain of custody; Kelly's consistency across prior statements actually bolstered his account under cross-examination.
Notable Quotes From The Record
“He had a swollen, black and blue right eye, and he had some blood around his mouth.”
Documents visible injuries observed by first responders under controlled lighting in the ambulance.
“He was very cold to touch, very stiff, almost frozen-like.”
Establishes O'Keefe's physical condition suggesting prolonged cold exposure, relevant to time-of-death and manner-of-death determinations.
“There were some lacerations on his right upper extremity.”
Additional injuries discovered after removing clothing, relevant to the question of how O'Keefe was injured.
“She was just acting kind of erratic and kind of running around screaming different things.”
Describes the behavior of a woman at the scene, consistent with other testimony about Karen Read's demeanor that morning.
“It was just something like, 'He's dead, he's dead.'”
Documents statements made at the scene by one of the two women present, repeated at least twice.
“Correct.”
Kelly confirmed he never heard the quoted words. The woman whose words were at issue was not independently identified in this proceeding.
“I heard someone say "fucking dead."”
After video playback, Kelly identifies the audio as 'fucking dead' — consistent with 'he's dead' rather than 'I hit him.'
“Separate things and separate places, yeah.”
Confirms the crew was dispersed, supporting the prosecution's argument that no single witness had complete auditory coverage of the scene
Key Moments
- Kelly described O'Keefe as 'very cold to touch, very stiff, almost frozen-like' with no pulse and not breathing — physical findings that established the victim had been exposed to cold for a prolonged period before emergency services arrived.
- Once O'Keefe was loaded into the ambulance, Kelly documented injuries under controlled lighting: a swollen, black-and-blue right eye, blood around the mouth, and lacerations on the right upper arm — injuries that became central to competing theories about whether O'Keefe was struck by a car or beaten.
- Kelly testified that one of the women at the scene was acting 'erratic,' running around and screaming, and that he heard something like 'he's dead, he's dead' — testimony relevant to the prosecution's characterization of Karen Read's behavior that morning.
- During cross-examination, after a video clip was played in court, Kelly identified the audio as 'fucking dead' rather than 'I hit him,' and confirmed unequivocally that he never heard anyone say 'I hit him, I hit him, I hit him' at the scene — directly undermining a key element of the prosecution's case.
- Defense attorney Yannetti used Kelly's consistency across his Trooper Proctor interview, grand jury testimony, and trial testimony to reinforce that his account — never hearing an admission — had not changed.