Law&Crime Sidebar - High Schooler Who Stabbed Teens at House Party Begs for Sympathy

Episode Date: July 3, 2025

An altercation between students at rival Connecticut high schools spilled over to a second house party, where multiple teens were involved in a large fight. In the chaos, Raul Valle stabbed four people with a knife. James “Jimmy” McGrath died when the blade hit his heart. During his murder trial this week, Valle took the stand to try to explain his side of the story. Law&Crime’s Jesse Weber has the details.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW: If you’re ever injured in an accident, you can check out Morgan & Morgan. You can submit a claim in 8 clicks or less without having to leave your couch. To start your claim, visit: https://forthepeople.com/LCSidebarHOST:Jesse Weber: https://twitter.com/jessecordweberLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokeVideo Editing - Michael Deininger, Christina O'Shea & Jay CruzScript Writing & Producing - Savannah Williamson & Juliana BattagliaGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law and Crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondry Plus in the Wondery app Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Agent Nate Russo returns in Oracle 3, Murder at the Grandview, the latest installment of the gripping Audible Original series. When a reunion at an abandoned island hotel turns deadly, Russo must untangle accident from murder. But beware, something sinister lurks in the grand. View Shadows. Joshua Jackson delivers a bone-chilling performance in this supernatural thriller that

will keep you on the edge of your seat. Don't let your fears take hold of you as you dive into this addictive series. Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. Here's a knife. Here's a knife. Get out of here, no. What were you thinking when your hand touched that knife? I felt like the only thing that would help me. When first responders got to a Connecticut neighborhood where high school students had just been in a fight at a house party, they encountered absolute pandemonian.

Teens were screaming and crying and at least four people had stab wounds. One of those wounds would end up being fatal, killing 17-year-old James McGrath. We're taking a look at how tension between kids from different high schools devolved into chaos, as the teen arrested for the stabbing takes the stand in his own defense. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. You know, this is a case that we have been carefully following here at Law and Crime, and we definitely wanted to bring it to you here on Sidebar.

And one of the reasons that we can do that is because of the incredible support that we get from our sponsor, Morgan and Morgan. This is America's largest injury firm. And honestly, they have an amazing track record. few months, Morgan and Morgan secured a $9.3 million verdict for a car crash victim in Florida, a $5.6 million verdict for another car accident victim in Atlanta, and not to mention $1.8 million in Kentucky after insurance offered them just $5,000 in that case. And even if you think your case isn't worth millions of dollars, why not start a claim and fight for what you deserve?

Morgan and Morgan makes it so simple. You can start a claim from your phone in just eight clicks and everything from signing contracts, uploading documents, to talk on your team. It can all be done through the phone. So if you're injured, you can easily start a claim at for the people.com slash LC sidebar. Raoul valet is on trial right now in Connecticut. According to prosecutors, Royal Valet and several friends, they attended two different parties on the night of May 14th and tension with other high schoolers built until multiple fights broke out. That led then 16-year-old Raul Valet to lash out with a large folding knife, making contact with at least four people

and it turns out he didn't even know who these four alleged victims were. They all went to other high schools. But his purported actions on that night mean he now knows them better than he likely ever wanted to. James Jimmy McGrath, a 17-year-old star athlete at Fairfield Prep, died that night. The medical examiner testified that during Valley's trial that the two and a half to three and a half inch stab wound to the left side of his chest punctured one of the ventricles in his heart and he bled out. Three other high schoolers who all attended Shelton High School by Zan Teal, Ryan Hines, Thomas Connery. They survived the stabbing and they testified against the defendant, Raul Valet, at trial, which began on June 17, 2025. Investigators say the fight

that led to the stabbing was a spillover from a prior altercation at a different party. Much of the nights events are clouded by just the sheer chaos of the situation. Also, by the way, heavy drinking. The medical examiner testified that when Jimmy died, his blood alcohol content was 0.2%. According to an arrest warrant, Valley had been at a party on Lazybrook Road in Shelton, Connecticut, with other students from his school, St. Joseph High. And at some point, other teens from Shelton High showed up and there was an altercation. Some of the Shelton students then moved on to another house party on Laurel Glen Drive. But the teens, they were still bad-mouthing each other at a large group chat.

and a few friends, they drove over to Laurel Glenn, and another fight broke out on the lawn, and that is when the four boys were stabbed. And while witnesses say the defendant's stabbing of McGrath and others was largely unprovoked, Valley's legal team is claiming self-defense, saying he was in fear for his life, as he endured a beating at the hands of several other teens. In fact, the now 20-year-old Raul Valley appears so confident in his case that he declined a plea deal, which would have meant 40 years in prison. So obviously it's significant. And instead, he decided to take this case to trial. And this trial has been going on for a couple of weeks now. It kind of got buried in all of the ditty coverage. And there are a lot of people involved in this case. And it is very, very interesting. There has been a substantial amount of testimony from teenagers who were at the home when everything went down. By the way, you can check out all of that testimony. And it is very gripping right now at the Long Crime Trials Channel. But I do want to dig a little bit into some of the details. of what happened and what rural valley had to say for himself on the stand and look as you might expect several witnesses in a case like this they were emotional when they took the stand

direct your attention specifically to may 14th of 2022 do you remember that day and why i do um it was probably the worst day i've ever experienced um it was just a lot and i lost a very close friend that day Taylor Capella was one of the people at the party on Laurel Glenn, and she told the jury that she was worried that things were going to escalate out of control between the different groups of high school boys, and she was right. According to Valley's account, he and his friend, Jack Snyder and others, they were all in Jack's car together when they were suddenly surrounded by several teens who were all yelling, throwing bottles, rocking the car back and forth. They managed to drive away, but they came back, and the defendant got out of the car. According to Jack Snyder, the knife was his, and he gave it to the defendant. And one of the other teams in the car said the Valley asked for the knife, something that the Valley disputes.

But prosecutors have claimed the Valley showed intent to do harm by returning to the fight, armed with a deadly weapon. Is this the knife that you had in your vehicle on May 14th of 2022? Is this the knife that you, that the defendant was looking for on May 14th of 2022? Yes. You indicated that the car, you had this in your car. center council I'm going to show you states 32 picture of the inside of your car and when you say you're the center console are you indicating that this area here

or are you indicating the glove box no the center council so I'm pointing to the left of states 32 the center console area of the car and you had taken it out of this area and put it on your lap and you initially got the 42 low glens and when the The defendant asked for the knife on May 14th and 22. Tell us about what happened. Did you give it to him? What happened? You gave him the knife.

And when you gave him the knife, why did you do that? I wasn't really thinking. I just gave him to him to him. Charlie Connery, the younger brother of one of the stabbing victims, was recording the fight when the stabbing happened. That video, as you can imagine, became a critical piece of evidence in this trial. Here's a knife. He has a knife. Get out of here. No. When you heard he has a knife, he has a knife. What was going through your head?

I was just like, oh my God, what's going on? Talking about he has a knife. Did you know who he was referring to when you heard he has a knife? Well, that's at the point where I saw. A couple seconds after that is when the defendant was near. Sorry, that's okay. Take a second. The defendant was near Jimmy, and he was lunging towards him.

And I just saw him go up to. Jimmy and Jimmy stays there for like two seconds and I looked over and saw Tommy with there was a flashlight pointing down on Tommy's leg and he had blood all over his leg and I looked back at Jimmy and at that point his shorts just all bloody and I just stood there at it. I didn't know what to do. Now, Thomas Connery, also known as Tommy, was involved in this fight.

He had these serious wounds to his leg from being stabbed four times. He says it felt like he was being punched. He didn't even realize that he actually had been stabbed until everybody was dispersing. After you and him separated, what do you recall about the things you went through after that? So in that moment, I kind of just sit there and sat around,

trying to I was in shock my body I didn't really have anything that I fully did after that I could you know recall I was just sitting there my body was bleeding and I was just looking around like trying to soak in what's going on did you realize you were bleed when did you realize you were bleeding oh when the car eventually drove away I realized I was bleeding and when you realized you were who did somebody bring it to your attention that you were bleeding no I brought it to my attention because I knew it was drizzling out but I didn't think it was pouring and I was like why is my leg soaked I feel like I'm covered in water And then I took a flashlight out from my phone, and I put it on my leg.

And then I realized my leg from my quad all the way down to my ankle was covered in blood. There was no skin to see, and my shoes were covered in blood. And when you realized that you were when you were stabbed at that point, what happened? I immediately was like, I need stitches, and then I dropped to my right hip and laid there waiting for people to come over. Jack Snyder testified that Rue Valley, who sometimes called Lido, was holding the bloody knife when he got back into the car. Lido got in the passenger seat and first, and he was like all distraught and set some along the lines of like, I think I just stabbed like four people or something like that, holding the knife. He said he stabbed four people. He was holding the knife. Now Rural Valley told the jury that he got involved in the fight because he wanted to back up his childhood best friend, Tyler,

De Silva, who'd also been involved in that night's tensions. And Snyder and De Silva, they were offered immunity for their part in this altercation in exchange for their testimony. Well, their truthful testimony. Now, the defendant, the only witness to be called by the defense, took the stand this week to tell his side of the story. Just the ground and people were just stomping and kicking and punching. Everywhere. Did you have the knife in your hand at that point? No.

Where was the knife? It was in my pocket. Could you see any way to escape? No. Did you try to get up? Yeah. Could you get up? No.

Why not? There was just so many people hitting me. I'm just everywhere. What could you hear? They were yelling. yelling and just it was so weird they were just yelling like i can't even describe did you hear anyone say yes sir i heard a whole bunch of things i can't get to get could you hear anything from mr de silva no could you see the vehicle that you had arrived in

jack snider's car no could you see any way to make an escape from your position. Where were the other people that were kicking you, as you've described it? All around me, on top of me, behind me. Could you see who was on top of you? No. Could you tell what the person or persons that were on top of you were doing? Hitting me?

Where were they hitting you? My head, the back of my head. kicking the front of my face, my ribs, bathroom. Did you get the sense that they were going to let you up and let you go? Yeah. What did you do at that point? I went to cover my head in like a fetal position. Did that seem to have any effect?

What did you hope would happen if you went into the fetal position? If they would stop. Did they stop? Did they stop? Did they not? Put us there on that long with you in the fetal position. What were you feeling? Hopeless.

Scared? Terrified? Why hopeless? Because they just weren't stopping. How were you feeling physically? What hurt? What hurt? Did you lose consciousness?

After the first hit, yeah. What happened next? fetal position covering the sides of my head and the top of my head with my forehead into the dirt. I was almost like hunched over and I had not reached in my pocket and grabbed the knife. What were you thinking when your hand touched that knife? I felt like the only thing that would help me. What were you seeing at that point around you? My face was in the dirt. I kind of really.

in the dirt, I kind of really see. I just felt nothing changed. Could you see Tyler De Silva? No. Could you hear Tyler De Silva? No. What could you hear? Still just the same screaming.

Did the group give any indication that they were going to stop or let you up? No. What happened next? After I took the knife out of my pocket, I started waving and just stabbing in every direction, just flailing my arm around. Could you tell if you'd hit anything? Did that seem to have any effect on the attack? No.

It made me more scared. Why did it make you more scared? It didn't change what they were doing and it didn't stop it from doing anything. Were they still kicking you? Yeah. Was someone still on top of you? Yeah, there were so many people on top of... Were you able to get up at that point?

No. What happened next? I kept flailing my arm around. Just trying to get him away from me. Were you aiming for anyone? No. Were you aiming for Ryan Hines? No.

You weren't trying to kill Ryan Hines? No. What about Tommy Connery? You stabbed him four times in the leg. What were you trying to do to Tommy Connery? Get him away. Did there come a time when it was just, you and Ryan Hines fighting one-on-one?

No. Did there come a time when Tommy Connery separated you from Ryan Hines and was just there with you one-on-one standing up? No. Where were you the entire time you were flailing? How were you feeling while you were flailing around with that knife? More scared than before? Terrified.

It didn't make him stop even though I was flailing around a knife. Could you tell how many people were around you at that point? No. What happened next? It's in flashes, but I just remember getting shoved into the car. Did there come a point where you were able to stand up? How did you get shoved to the car? I remember while I was in the fetal position and like flailing my arm around.

I was, I like rolled on the back of my heels and tried to jump backwards. And his defense attorney questioned why he felt the need to get involved when he didn't even know most of the people involved in this beef. Did you know Tommy Connery before this? No. Did you know Ryan Hines before this? No. Did you know Faison Teal before this? No.

Did you know Jimmy McGrath before this? No. Why didn't you just get in that car and leave? I saw my best friend and somebody that looked. Nobody was helping him. How did you feel? But I couldn't just let him be there alone. I felt like I had to save him.

So during his testimony, Raul Valley admitted that he was the only one with the knife and was responsible for the stabbing. But he also said he didn't remember actually stabbing anyone and said that he was just trying to wave everyone away and get them to leave him alone. Now, the prosecution claims that he threw the knife into some woods after leaving the scene, okay? So Valley told the jury that when he finally got home, his family was shocked at how he looked. I just walked up to my house. Was anybody home? Yes. Who? My mom and my little brother. What were they doing? They were back and to go to Florida. What was their reaction when they saw you?

My mom just started screaming and crying. My brother was just like holding his mouth open. Did you explain how you'd been injured? At that point, I didn't really know what to say. I couldn't even understand really what had happened. Detail for detail. I remember telling her, her. And I got attacked by a whole bunch

of people. At the time, Valley's mother and brother, they were in the process of packing a flight of Florida to see another family member. Valley hadn't been planning to go with them, but changed his mind and decided he would. And he says, it wasn't until after he left that he learned

McGrath had died. So the jury's going to take of that what they will. But text messages between Valley and his then girlfriend kind of give us a glimpse into what Valley was telling his about the altercation. Exhibit 97. Do you remember those texts coming in?

Yeah. She writes, Are you serious? I hate you. Someone just called me and said, you stabbed someone. You just ruined everything, Lido. Literally ruined everything for me.

Answer the phone. IDK what to do. Everyone is texting me. I want you to read for us. What did you write back? I didn't do anything. I wasn't there. Stop texting anyone.

Stop answering. I'm going to show you state's exhibit 98 she says Lido everyone knows who you are everyone knows you're my boyfriend what do you say I know you know everyone's texting me what do you say stop answering what happened don't talk to me what is what do you say okay stop answering anyone she says you up Lido what do you said how I wasn't there Did you expect her to believe that you had not been there? Objection that calls for speculation as to what she would believe. Let me hear the question again?

Did you expect her to believe that you had not been there? No, the role it goes to his expectations. No, I knew she knew I was there because she was with me. Why did you say those things to her in that text? Panicking and I just didn't want her to worry at all. At that point, did you think that someone had died? No. So after he comes back from Florida, Rural Valley learns that he had a warrant out for his arrest,

but admitted he didn't immediately turn himself into police. When he did, he was eventually released on a $2 million bond. According to the Connecticut Post, if he's convicted on all charges, he could face up to 110 years in prison. And as we record this, closing arguments are underway, which means we could have a verdict today, July 3rd, or after the 4th of July holiday. But we'll keep a careful eye on it. Of course, you can see full trial coverage over on the Long Crime Trial YouTube channel. Hope everybody can check it out. But that's all we have for you right now here on Sidebar.

Everybody, thank you so much for joining us. And as always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify. wherever you should get your podcasts. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next time.