In an exclusive sitdown interview with News 12 Connecticut Friday, the family of Shelton stabbing victim Jimmy McGrath spoke publicly for the first time about the teen's death at a house party last month.

James McGrath's sister Rosie, his mother Maggie and his father Kevin sat down with News 12 Connecticut Friday before holding a news conference, three weeks after police say 16-year-old Raul Valle fatally stabbed the 17-year-old at a house party in Shelton.

"We just want to really de-escalate anything out there," said Kevin McGrath.

The family says in the weeks following the death, kids from St. Joseph's High School in Trumbull, where the suspect went, and students from other schools including Fairfield Prep, which McGrath attended, have been clashing "here and there in a small way" at public places, like restaurants.

"As groups come together, you know, organically, we just want to make sure there is peace. We just want to make sure there's no animosity between students of different schools — because this was a tragedy, but it wasn't a tragedy created by a rivalry," said Kevin McGrath.

"We've been surrounded by love and that's helped," said Maggie McGrath.

The parents say they want that same spirit of love that's lifted them up in the wake of their loss to be their son's legacy. They hope urging peace will promote that point in spite of their pain.

The family says violence in the wake of the fatal stabbing would "dishonor" their son's name and divide the community at a time when they hope to unite it in Jimmy's memory. As they begin the painful journey of life without him, they say "Jimmy hasn't really gone anywhere at all."

"As an older sister, you're supposed to protect your younger siblings and now I know he's protecting me and I'm confident that he'll be with me throughout the rest of my life," said Rosie McGrath.

The arrest warrant released in the case doesn't give any indication that Valle and Mcgrath new each other, or that McGrath was involved in the fight that ended with his stabbing.