After years of speculation, weeks of testimony and two trials, Charlie DeLoach was the person who officially declared Karen Read "not guilty" in the death of John O'Keefe. The jury foreman opened up about when he came to his decision and the critical piece of evidence that swayed the jury. 

Speaking to a room full of criminal justice students at Fisher College, DeLoach made the case that the justice system is flawed, sharing his up close and personal experience with one of the biggest trials in the country. 

Millions watched as DeLoach read the verdicts that ultimately freed Karen Read. 

"It was intense because before I got to the last not guilty, the crowd erupted," DeLoach said. "It was already cheering like it was a basketball stadium outside." 

In June, Read was acquitted on the most serious charges she faced in the death of John O'Keefe, her Boston police officer boyfriend. The jury found her guilty only of operating under the influence. 

Read had been accused of hitting O'Keefe with her SUV and leaving him to die in the snow outside 34 Fairview Road in Canton, Massachusetts, in January 2022. 

DeLoach says despite 31 days of testimony and hundreds of pieces of evidence, his mind was made up early. "I didn't take one note. I didn't have to after the first witness. I was just like oh, OK, I see where this is going," DeLoach said. 

DeLoach believes there was some kind of cover-up, he takes issue with investigators never entering the Canton home and thinks overall the testimony was weak, except that of John O'Keefe's mother. 

"She was broken up already trying to even talk about her daughter who passed and also her son-in-law who passed away, and then seeing her really break down when she was talking about John," DeLoach said. 

Jurors believed taillight was tampered

When the jury was finally free to deliberate, DeLoach says all of them wanted to look at one piece of evidence, the taillight and claims many jurors came to the conclusion it had been tampered with. 

"This is way different than the taillight we seen on the ARCCA report," he said, referring to witness testimony. 

And on Karen Read's demeanor in court, DeLoach says it took him weeks to decode what he called a "consistent snarl" on her face. 

"So, it was just a person that was just fed up with everybody lying to her," DeLoach said. 

DeLoach believes if the state had used a lesser charge of manslaughter, rather than murder, Read could have been found guilty. It's his belief the person responsible for John O'Keefe's death is still out there.