After twice reporting it was “hopelessly deadlocked” in weighing the case against Raul Valle, a Milford jury acquitted the 20-year-old of murder and other charges related to a 2022 Shelton house party brawl.
Valle admits he stabbed four other teens, including Fairfield Prep student Jimmy McGrath, 17, who was killed. Valle, 16 at the time of the incident, testified in his own defense, claiming he was defending himself and his friends.
In its third day of deliberations, the jury of six men and six men ruled that Valle was not guilty of murder and intentional manslaughter in the case of McGrath, and not guilty of intentional assault in the stabbings of Shelton High School students Ryan Heinz, Tommy Connery and Faison Teele.
A mistrial was declared on several other charges, including reckless manslaughter, because the jury said it remained deadlocked on those counts.
Valle and his attorney did not comment after the verdicts. Jimmy McGrath’s father, Kevin, had been confident in a guilty verdict, saying, “I’m astonished at the result… I’m not sure if they were in the same courtroom that all were, together, but that’s the verdict and we’ll live with it.”
Prior coverage from WTIC:
At closing arguments Thursday in Milford, the attorney for Raul Valle argued the then-16 year old was acting in self-defense when he admittedly stabbed 4 other teens, including Jimmy McGrath, 17, who was killed.
The prosecution rejected that claim, saying Valle escalated the 2022 Shelton house party brawl when he produced a knife and used it.
Valle faces charges of murder and assault.
Senior Assistant State's Attorney Marc Durso said Valle, angered by incidents involving two groups of teenagers earlier in the night, was an instigator.
“This wasn’t self-defense. He went into that fight already armed,” said Durso. “His response to this fight was unreasonable. It was a fistfight that escalated by his doing, because he was the only one there with a weapon.”
Defense attorney Kevin Smith said Valle acted reasonably under the circumstances. He claimed that Valle was surrounded and being pummeled, saying, “What he was was a 16 year old boy, down on the ground, getting stomped and kicked.”
Durso said a person simply intending to defend himself wouldn’t have lashed out as severely as Valle did.
“In this case, the state contends that there were 9 stab wounds inflicted by this defendant on 4 different victims. They were stab wounds, not slashes,” said Durso. “I would suggest to you that a person who stabs multiple people multiple times in areas of the body that would cause serious physical injury and death intended to cause those serious injuries.”
Smith told the jury they should vote to acquit on the basis of reasonable doubt. He questioned the testimony of several young people who were teens at the time of the brawl, including some who testified under an immunity agreement with prosecutors, saying, “I think you’ve got more than a single reasonable doubt.”
Durso sought to erase any doubt about Valle’s intentions, saying Valle and others left the scene at Lazy Brook Rd. in Shelton before the stabbing, then returned: “It’s just not reasonable to bring a knife to a fistfight. He went there looking for trouble. That’s the bottom line, because if he doesn’t go back, none of this happens. But he went back. Imagine if he didn’t go back with a knife? It would have just been a fistfight. That’s all. But he went back with a weapon. You can’t use more force than what’s being used against you.”