Prosecutors have filed new charges against Raul Valle after a jury last week found him not guilty of the most serious charges in a series of stabbings outside a Shelton house party in 2022 that left one teen dead and three others injured.
The jury remained deadlocked on lesser charges, leading to a mistrial on those offenses.
The amended information, filed last Wednesday after the partial verdict was returned, charges Valle, 20, with one count each of first-degree reckless manslaughter and second-degree reckless assault and two counts of first-degree reckless assault.
The manslaughter charge stems from the killing of James “Jimmy” McGrath outside a house party in Shelton on May 14, 2022, according to paperwork filed by Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Marc Durso, who led the prosecution against Valle at his trial. The more serious assault charges stem from the nonfatal stabbings of Ryan Heinz and Thomas Connery. The second-degree assault charge accuses Valle of stabbing Faison Teele.
Raul Valle found not guilty of murder in fatal stabbing of Fairfield Prep student
Valle’s case did not appear Tuesday on the state’s Judicial Branch website. He had been free on $2 million bond before and during his two-week trial.
A 12-person jury last week returned a not guilty verdict on charges of murder and first-degree manslaughter with intent in McGrath’s death. The verdict also found Valle not guilty of first-degree intentional assault in the stabbings of Heinz and Connery and not guilty of second-degree intentional assault in the stabbing of Teele.
Jurors were deadlocked on the charges Durso is now pursuing against Valle after a judge ruled a mistrial on those offenses, allowing prosecutors to retry him on the less serious charges.
Valle’s lawyer, New Haven-based attorney Kevin Smith, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday. Michael J. Rosnick, the lawyer who represents the McGrath family in a wrongful death lawsuit, could also not be reached for comment.
Jurors deliberated for about 11 ½ hours after hearing testimony and evidence for nearly two weeks from about two dozen witnesses. Valle, who was 16 at the time of the stabbings but was tried as an adult, took the stand in his own defense.
Smith chose not to contend that his client stabbed four people and instead centered his defense on his assertion that Valle had no choice but to use a knife to defend himself and his friend from an angry mob of about 20 people outside the party on Laurel Glenn Drive. Smith said both teens were jumped by the crowd and alleged that they were intent on seriously hurting both of them.
The incident arose after an altercation earlier in the night at another house party in Shelton between students at Shelton High School and St. Joseph High School in Trumbull, where Valle attended school. The scuffle led to a heated exchange in a group chat later in the night before Valle and his friends went to the house party on Laurel Glenn Drive.
Durso alleged that Valle was upset after the previous altercations and went ballistic when his friend’s vehicle was damaged by the crowd of youths who rocked and shook the vehicle Valle and his friends arrived in. Durso also alleged that Valle asked his friend for a 3-inch knife and had revenge on his mind when he stabbed the three teens who survived before plunging the blade into the heart of McGrath, a student at Fairfield College Preparatory School who bled to death in the driveway.
Before the trial, Valle turned down a plea deal that would have sent him to prison for 40 years.
