2025-07-03
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The trial for a 20-year-old man who is accused stabbing and killing a Fairfield Prep student at a Shelton house party in 2022 is coming to an end and the state and defense will be presenting closing arguments on Thursday.Raul Valle, 20, is accused of stabbing and killing 17-year-old James McGrath on May 14, 2022 and has been charged with murder. He is also accused of stabbing three others at the party.Valle was 16 years old at the time and he pleaded not guilty.In 2023, he rejected a plea deal that offered him 40 years in prison.Over the past nine days, the state has presented their argument to the jury.Valle’s defense attorney Kevin Smith requested a motion for an acquittal for his client and argued the state did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt his client’s intent of murder.Judge Shari Murphy will be giving the court’s decision on the motion to acquit during today’s proceedings.A look back at the trialThe state has brought in 25 witnesses, including members of the Shelton Police Department, medical professionals who treated the victims and friends from both sides of the courtroom.The fatal stabbing happened at 43 Laurel Glen Drive in Shelton after Valle and his best friend Tyler DaSilva from St. Joseph High School got into a fight with a group of teenagers from Shelton High School, according to police.Several people who were at the party have testified about what happened that night and at least five people named Valle as the person responsible for McGrath’s death.The jury heard from all three surviving victims — Ryan Heinz, Thomas Connery and Faison Teele — three adults who were also teens at the time.Heinz testified that he was stabbed in three parts of his body.He received extensive medical treatment for his injuries, but he testified the memory of the night replays everyday in his mind.Connery testified that he was stabbed four times in the leg and his quadricep has permanent damage.Teele was stabbed in the arm but couldn’t have, according to testimony from Eric Black, a physician assistant who works at Griffin Hospital.On the eighth day of the trial, witnesses Taylor Capela and Charlie Connery testified to seeing Valle stab McGrath.Once the state rested its case on Wednesday, the defense called on Valle to take the stand.He testified that he entered the fight at Laurel Glen Drive because he wanted to back up DaSilva, his childhood best friend.“I saw my best friend, somebody that I love. Nobody was helping him,” Valle said.Throughout his testimony, Valle said he didn’t know they were heading to Laurel Glen Drive until they arrived and the knife used was not his.Valle testified to feeling “confused” when his schoolmate, and the driver of the night Jack Snyder, handed him his knife prior to the fight.Valle said he placed the knife in his pocket and admitted to using it, but said he did not realize he was stabbing anyone and his intention was to wave it to scare off the teens in the fight, but it did not work.*On Tuesday, the issue of immunity was raised during the proceedings as Smith asked his client whether or not the Shelton Police Department offered him immunity.Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Marc Durso objected to the line of questioning and said it was out of the scope of questioning.Throughout the trial, the jury learned that the state offered Snyder and DaSilva an immunity deal in exchange for truthful testimony.Smith requested a motion for an acquittal for his client and argued the state did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt his client’s intent of murder.You can watch video of coverage from the trial on the NBC Connecticut YouTube page.
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