Suspect in killing of Fairfield Prep student has new lawyer
MILFORD — Raul Eliah Valle, currently awaiting trial of the in the killing Fairfield Prep student James McGrath, has a new attorney.
A judge in May set jury selection for Sept. 18 in the case. Valle, of Milford, is charged with murder and three counts of first-degree assault in connection with the stabbing of 17-year-old McGrath and three others during a fight at a Shelton house party on the night of May 14, 2022.
During the May court appearance, Judge Kevin Russo denied a request from the law firm representing Valle at the time, led by Norm Pattis, to withdraw from the case.
In the weeks since, Kevin Smith, an attorney who had earlier represented Valle before breaking from Pattis’ firm to form his own practice, filed an official appearance in the case.
It is not clear if Smith’s appointment will affect the trial timeline set down by the judge in May.
Smith declined to comment Wednesday, as did the prosecutor on the case, Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Marc Durso, and the McGraths’ lawyer, Michael Rosnick.
Police said Valle, then 16, stabbed four people, including McGrath, during a fight at a Shelton house party on the night of May 14, 2022. An arrest warrant affidavit cited witnesses who identified Valle as the assailant.
According to the arrest warrant, Valle had been at a party on Lazy Brook Road in Shelton with other students from Trumbull’s St. Joseph High School. At some point a group of students from Shelton High School arrived and an altercation between the two groups of students took place.
After the fight, some of the Shelton students went to another house party on Laurel Glen Drive, but the two groups continued “bad-mouthing” each other in a group chat, a witness told police, according to the warrant.
Valle and several other students then drove to the Laurel Glen Drive home, about a mile away, and another fight broke out on the lawn of that property, according to the warrant. Several teens were stabbed in that altercation, police said.