Deliberations to begin Monday in deadly stabbing of Fairfield Prep student at party
The six men and six women on the jury must decide whether or not Valle is guilty of murder and three counts of assault for stabbing four teenagers at a house party in Shelton on May 14, 2022.
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The jury in Raul “Lito” Valle’s trial will begin deliberating his fate on Monday after the judge finishes giving all the instructions. Judge Shari Murphy had anticipated deliberations would begin Thursday afternoon, but Murphy only got about ¾ of the way through the instructions before court adjoined for the holiday weekend.
The six men and six women on the jury must decide whether or not Valle is guilty of murder and three counts of assault for stabbing four teenagers at a house party in Shelton on May 14, 2022. During the trial, 26 witnesses took the stand, including the defendant, over the course of nine days. On Thursday, both sides made their closing arguments where they urged the jury to consider intent and credibility of the witnesses.
“The majority of the witnesses were teenagers when this happened. It was a horrific event, but the main story is the same. The main story is the same—a horrific event that was etched in their minds is the same,” began Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Marc Durso.
“They're telling you things they could see that couldn't have been seen. Why are they doing that? They want to avoid consequences that Mr. Valle is now saddled with. They want to protect themselves. They want to protect their friends, and they want to protect the memory of a loved one that they lost,” defense attorney Kevin Smith countered. “This might be a hard case because it involves young people. It might be difficult because it involves young people, but it is not a complicated case. It is about the most basic right any of us have—the right to defend ourselves.”
Valle was 16 at the time he admittedly stabbed Ryan Heinz, Tommy Connery, Faison Teele and Jimmy McGrath. McGrath, 17, was a star lacrosse player at Fairfield Prep and the only one who didn't survive.
“This is what self-defense looks like. It's messy. It's chaotic. It transpires quickly, and you don't have to make the best decision. That's not what the law requires,” Smith stated. “It requires that you make a reasonable decision.”
“This wasn't self-defense. He went into that fight already armed. His response to this fight was unreasonable when you look at it in totality," Durso countered. “You can't bring a weapon to a fistfight.”
Smith reminded the jury about Valle’s testimony—that he used the knife because he didn’t see another option.
“He's down on the ground. He's being kicked, stomped, punched, and he's being given there's no reason to believe it was going to stop unless he makes it stop,” Smith said.
But Durso argued Valle’s explanation doesn’t match the physical evidence.
“These are not flailing slash marks. These are deep stab wounds,” Durso said, pointing out that Valle didn’t get seriously injured. “Intent can be formed in an instant. It can be formed within a moment. I would submit to you that at the beginning of that fight—that was not on video—as soon as he got hit, he formed the intent, the specific intent to stab people and cause serious physical injury."
“They’re right about specific intent,” Smith told the jury. “But it's not specific intent to murder. It’s not specific intent to assault. It's specific intent to survive.”
Durso countered that while Heinz, Connery and Teele were stabbed while fighting with Valle, McGrath’s fatal wound came when Valle returned to the lawn after initially escaping the fight.
“Self-defense is not retaliatory. It's defensive. You can't come back and stab somebody just because you’re mad, and that's exactly what happened here,” stated Durso. “The fight was over. Kids were screaming back and forth. You hear, ‘Get out of here, bro!’ and at the very end of the video, you see Jimmy McGrath step back like this to try to avoid the stab wound, the deliberate stab wound in his chest.”
Durso got emotional as he described McGrath bleeding out at the scene.
“I apologize for getting choked up here. I have a son as well. And I can't imagine what it feels like to have that happen,” Durso said.
Smith told the jury not to overlook their reasonable doubts and reminded them they must put aside their sympathy.
“The law requires you, despite the tragedy in this case, the law requires you to find my client not guilty.”
Valle is charged with murder, two counts of first-degree assault and one count of second-degree assault.
The jury will be allowed to consider lesser charges during deliberations. If they find Valle not guilty of murder, they can consider intentional first-degree manslaughter and then reckless first-degree manslaughter. If they find him not guilty of first-degree assault, they can consider reckless first-degree assault, then intentional second-degree assault and lastly, reckless second-degree assault. If the jury finds Valle not guilty of second-degree assault, they can consider reckless second-degree assault.
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