A firefighter who was among the first at the scene. A friend of the man found lying in the snow. And the man’s mother in tears recalling her son, a Boston police officer whose death is at the heart of a trial gripping the nation.

Witnesses have returned to the stand in the case of Karen Read, who is accused of murdering her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe. The Massachusetts woman is back in court after a first trial ended with a hung jury in July 2024 after the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict.

The retrial out of Dedham, Massachusetts, comes as interest in the case has spurred podcasts, movies and television shows. The judge presiding over the case, Beverly Cannone, even issued an order barring supporters of either Read or O’Keefe from demonstrating within 200 feet of the courthouse.

The first full day of testimony concluded on Wednesday. Many followers on social media – including lawyers who are not involved in the case – are already offering opinions.

“All in all, I don’t think this is a great start for the prosecution,” criminal defense attorney Sydney Rushing said on TikTok, adding lawyers aiming to prove Read’s guilt were “quite boring and underwhelming.”

Prosecutors say Read hit O’Keefe with her SUV and left him to die in the snow outside a Canton, Massachusetts home. Read’s attorneys say she was framed in O’Keefe’s death. The trial is expected to last up to eight weeks.

“I don’t think it did a really good job of catching the jury’s eye,” Rushing said of the prosecutors’ approach. “You need to come out strong in this case.

Here are a few takeaways from the first day of the trial.

Karen Read trial first day: John O’Keefe’s mom chokes up recalling day he was killed

Witness testimony under scrutiny

Timothy Nuttall, a firefighter and paramedic who was at the scene the night of O’Keefe’s death, described arriving on the scene to find O’Keefe cold and showing no sign of life. As he and other first responders tended to O’Keefe, Nuttall said he heard Read, who had blood on her face, say “I hit him, I hit him, I hit him.”

Defense attorney Alan Jackson repeatedly pressed Nuttall about his memory of the incident, called his testimony “inconsistent” and questioned why Nuttall previously testified that Read only said “I hit him” twice. In response to questions from Jackson, Nuttall agreed that injuries to O’Keefe’s face could have been caused by a punch to the face.

Who is Judge Beverly Cannone? What to know about judge in Karen Read trial

O’Keefe’s mother describes the day he died in tearful testimony

Peggy O’Keefe delivered brief, emotional testimony about the day her son, John O’Keefe, died.

She said while a friend of his drove her to the hospital after he was found in the snow, she spoke by phone with Read, who said she had left John O’Keefe at a party.

At the hospital, Peggy O’Keefe said, she saw her son was “bruised up” and heard Read repeatedly yelling “is he dead, Peg?”

Peggy O’Keefe began to cry as she described the family’s devastated reaction to her son’s death. The defense asked her no questions. Her son was known in the small Massachusetts community for stepping up to raise his niece and nephew after his sister and brother-in-law died.

The trial is expected to last up to eight weeks.

Contributing: N’dea Yancey-Bragg and Karissa Waddick