What we do and don’t know about Fairfield Prep student’s death
SHELTON — The arrest warrant affidavit Shelton police filed alleging 16-year-old Raul Eliah Valle killed 17-year-old James McGrath indicates an escalating series of events that are still not fully clear nearly a week after the Fairfield Prep student's stabbing death.
Based on the affidavit, McGrath died of a single stab wound to the left side of his chest that went through his rib and into his heart. The attack occurred late Saturday at a house party in Shelton where dozens of teens were in attendance.
With Valle currently held on $2 million bond and scheduled for court June 7, here's what we know and don't know so far.
What we know
The fight outside the Laurel Glen Drive home that led to McGrath's death appears to have been an escalation of an earlier altercation at a different party in Shelton.
According to a warrant written by Detective Richard Bango, a witness said there had been a party on Lazy Brook Road in Shelton with numerous St. Joseph High School students. Several Shelton High students allegedly showed up uninvited and initiated a brief altercation with some St. Joseph students.
After a short time the Shelton students left the party, but several of the participants then engaged in a group text with the two sides bad-mouthing each other. A witness told police the St. Joseph students knew the location of the Laurel Glen Drive party.
Multiple witnesses report a dark colored Honda Pilot pulled up at the Laurel Glen Drive party. One witness told police that the Honda made several passes past the party, and the occupants were throwing things from the vehicle and word spread that “those SJ kids are here,” according to the affidavit.
Witnesses said the occupants exited the vehicle, and a witness told Bango several people said Valle had been flashing a knife through the vehicle's window, according to the warrant.
The witness said he approached the St. Joseph students and tried to calm the situation, and Valle was holding what appeared to be a small pocket knife and was possibly trying to scare him.
A short time later, witnesses said one of the uninvited teens struck or shoved someone and “a big fight” started, possibly involving as many as 25 teens.
The fight went to the ground, with witnesses describing a pile of people rolling around. But the situation appeared to calm down. The group let Valle and his companion up and they began walking toward the Honda, and “everyone was leaving him (Valle) alone,” a witness said.
The witness said he watched as Valle suddenly turned and stabbed McGrath, who was standing nearby, according to the affidavit. Numerous witnesses at the scene also identified Valle as the person responsible, and picked him out of an 8-person photo lineup, Bango wrote.
What we don't know
What the 10-page affidavit does not make clear is if McGrath had any involvement in any of the incidents leading up to his stabbing. The witnesses who described the earlier scuffle do not describe him being there, and none of the witnesses told police he was involved in the large 25-person fight on Laurel Glen Drive.
The affidavit also does not specify a reason for the earlier Lazy Brook Road fight.
Also unknown is how well the two rival groups knew each other. The two parties were both in Shelton, and McGrath was from Shelton although he attended Fairfield College Preparatory School.
Valle is a Milford resident and witnesses variously said they knew him by name only or through social media, or that they knew him but were not friends with him. The report lists several other suspects in addition to Valle, but not where they reside. It's unclear if anyone else will face charges in the case.