Jury in Raul Valle’s murder trial deadlocked, asks to rehear part of defendant’s testimony
Day 2 of deliberations began with Judge Shari Murphy addressing a note she received from the jury at 4:45 p.m. Monday as court was about to adjourn.
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UPDATE: 7/9/2025
Jurors remain unable to reach a verdict in the trial of Raul “Lito” Valle, who is accused of killing Jimmy McGrath and injuring three other teenagers at a house party in Shelton. The jury has four charges to consider—murder and three separate counts of assault.
Day 2 of deliberations began with Judge Shari Murphy addressing a note she received from the jury at 4:45 p.m. Monday as court was about to adjourn. Murphy said the note reiterated that jurors were still deadlocked on count one—the murder charge—and they also couldn’t come to a decision on any of the assault charges. The judge told the jury of six men and six women that they’d only deliberated for just under five hours the day before after getting the case. Murphy said they should continue working toward a verdict. Murphy also reminded the jury that they have access to all of the more than 100 exhibits from the trial and can ask for playback of any testimony from the 26 witnesses who took the stand over the course of nine days.
In the afternoon, the jury requested to rehear a portion of the defendant’s testimony—specifically what Valle saw regarding his friend, Tyler Dasilva, when Valle ran back into the fight. Jurors listened to the direct testimony and cross-examination on that, which lasted 5-10 minutes.
Valle was 16 on May 14, 2022, the night McGrath, a 17-year-old student at Fairfield Prep was killed. Valle had his case transferred to adult court where, along with murder, he was charged with two counts of first-degree assault and one count of second-degree assault for stabbing injuries to Ryan Heinz, Tommy Connery and Faison Teele. When Valle took the stand, he told the jury it was self-defense, but the prosecution put up a parade of witnesses who said otherwise.
The jury began deliberating Valle's fate just before 11 a.m. Monday and two hours in, sent their first note to Murphy. It stated they were deadlocked 11-1 on the murder charge. The note didn't say if the majority vote was for guilty or not guilty.
If the jury acquits Valle of any of the charges, they can consider lesser charges including first-degree manslaughter rather than murder.
Deliberations continue Wednesday morning at Milford Superior Court.
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