Karen Read's lawyer to represent Boston cop accused of on-duty manslaughter

Colleen Cronin, Boston Herald on Apr 9, 2026

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BOSTON — Karen Read’s lawyer David Yannetti will represent the Boston police officer accused of manslaughter in the on-duty shooting of carjacking suspect Stephenson King.

Yannetti wrote that he was honored to defend Officer Nicholas O’Malley, who he described as “a good man who finds himself falsely accused of manslaughter,” in a Thursday letter to the media.

“He performed his sworn duty and defended his fellow officers when confronted by a dangerous criminal with an established history of violence and felonies,” the letter stated.

O’Malley was charged by the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office last month, eight days after he fatally shot King.

The officer said that he feared for his partner’s life during the encounter with King, who backed his car up into a cruiser during the incident and didn’t fully comply with police. But prosecutors said, based on body camera footage, O’Malley’s partner was more in danger of being hit by a bullet than King in the allegedly stolen vehicle.

Yannetti indirectly mentioned his work with Read, who was acquitted of second degree murder last summer. Read was accused of hitting and killing her boyfriend and Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe with her car during a blizzard in 2022. Now Read is pursuing civil cases against several of the witnesses and former State Police Officer Michael Procotor.

Both Yannetti and his co-counsel Christina Pujals Ronan “stand prepared to zealously fight another district attorney’s office that is apparently choosing to protect criminals while prosecuting good police officers,” the letter stated. “We look forward to preventing an injustice in this case as well.”

Pujals Ronan is also representing State Police Sgt. Scott Quigley, who was charged with motor vehicle homicide in connection to an alleged drunken cruiser crash in Woburn in 2023.

“We will not rest until Officer O’Malley is rightfully acquitted,” the letter said.

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