New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
‘Unspeakable tragedy’
Raul Valle of Milford, 16, charged in stabbing death at Shelton party
DERBY — A fight at one Shelton house party Saturday night led to a homicide at another about a mile away, according to an arrest warrant charging a 16-year-old Milford teen in the stabbing death of Fairfield Prep student James McGrath.
The suspect, Raul Eliah Valle, was identified Thursday in court documents and at Derby Superior Court following his ap
pearance on charges of murder and three counts of first-degree assault.
Outside the courthouse, Valle’s lawyer, Jake Donovan, said he hadn’t yet reviewed the case against his client, who a judge ordered held in lieu of $2 million bond.
“Obviously, this is an unspeakable tragedy for everyone involved and it would be irresponsible for me to make any comment before I had a chance to examine all the evidence in the case,” Donovan told reporters.
According to the warrant, witnesses told police that Valle was at a party on Shelton’s Lazy Brook Road Saturday night with other students from Trumbull’s St. Joseph High School.
At some point, a group of students from Shelton High School arrived and an altercation occurred between two groups from the opposing schools.
The fight broke up and the Shelton High students left — some going to another house party on Laurel Glen Drive — but the two groups “were bad-mouthing each other” in a group chat, one witness said, according to the warrant.
Valle and several others then drove to the Laurel Glen Drive home, were told to leave, and another fight began on the lawn of the property, the warrant stated. Several teens were stabbed during the altercation, the warrant stated.
According to one witness, the fight stopped, and the Shelton
High group let Valle get up, the warrant stated. He started to walk to his car “and everyone was leaving him alone,” the witness told police. McGrath was standing nearby, though “no one was going after” Valle, the warrant stated.
“He stated (Valle) then turns around and takes his knife and stabs (McGrath) right in the stomach and pulls it out,” the warrant, written by Shelton Police Detective Richard Bango, quotes the witness as saying.
McGrath was rushed to Bridgeport Hospital, but died about an hour later. Three others were also stabbed, according to the warrant, but have since been released from the hospital.
The warrant did not indicate whether McGrath knew Valle or any of the other suspects, who drove away from the party after the fight.
The warrant said Valle was identified by several witnesses and arrested Wednesday in connection with the incident.
He appeared before Judge H. Gordon Hall at Derby Superior Court Thursday morning in a hearing that was closed to the public. The judge ordered Valle held on $2 million bond and transferred the case to Milford Superior Court, with the next hearing scheduled for June 7.
Valle’s family members declined to comment.
According to the warrant, more than 50 teenagers attended the house party at Laurel Glen Drive where police found “multiple people” on the front lawn suffering from stab wounds after being called to the scene shortly before midnight.
An autopsy revealed McGrath had been stabbed once in the left side of his chest, the warrant stated. The puncture went several inches deep and “through the rib and the heart,” according to the warrant.
In a letter to the school community, St. Joseph President David J. Klein said social workers and counselors would be available for students as “they grieve and attempt to process the wide-reaching impact of this incident.”
“Our entire school community is horrified and deeply saddened by the tragic death of James ‘Jimmy’ McGrath,” Klein wrote in the letter. “We are all still shocked by this heartbreaking situation.”
McGrath, a Fairfield Prep lacrosse player, was honored Wednesday night before a game against Shelton High.
“Jimmy doesn’t want us to cry for him. Jimmy’s up there with his friends, his cousins who have passed. They’re up there looking down upon us today,” his father Kevin McGrath told the crowd of about 1,000 people.
In a statement posted on the St. Joseph High Facebook page, the school also offered its support to the Fairfield Prep community.
“St. Joseph High School holds the Fairfield Prep School Community close to our hearts and in our prayers,” the post said. “There are no words to properly describe such sadness in the wake of this devastating and profound loss of young life filled with such great promise. We call upon our community to offer prayers for the Fairfield Prep Community and the McGrath family as they grieve the death of a student and cherished classmate.”