Teen Accused Of Fatally Stabbing Jimmy McGrath, 17, Posts $2M Bond

MILFORD, CT — Despite his $2 million bail not being reduced Monday, Raul Eliah Valle, the 16-year-old accused of killing 17-year-old Jimmy McGrath on May 14, was released from custody Monday after his father posted bond, reported WTNH-TV.

Earlier in the day, the Connecticut Post reported that Valle was expected to post bond and be released, according to his attorney.

Valle appeared in Milford Superior Court Monday morning, where Judge Peter Brown declined to lower the bail, but ordered him to wear a GPS monitoring device and remain under home confinement if he posted bond.

The Post ran a photo of Valle and his father leaving the courthouse wearing coronavirus masks.

The Milford teen's next court date is scheduled for July 15.

Related:

• Warrant Details Police Investigation Of Jimmy McGrath's Stabbing Death
• 'This Is A Day To Celebrate Jimmy's Life,' Slain Teen's Dad Says
• St. Joseph Student Accused Of Fatally Stabbing James McGrath, 17

Jake Donovan, Valle's attorney, reportedly did not comment following Monday's hearing, but said his client would be post bond. Typically, bond in such cases in Connecticut represents 7 percent of the bail figure.

Valle, who is being tried as an adult, had been in custody since his arrest last week. He is a student at St. Joseph High School in Trumbull.

According to an arrest warrant application obtained by Patch, McGrath was stabbed outside a house party with over 50 teens in attendance on Laurel Glen Drive in Shelton late on the 14th.

McGrath, a Shelton resident, was a student at Fairfield Prep.

The warrant also said police received several calls about a fight at the Shelton home with multiple stab victims. Four teens who were stabbed, including McGrath, were found on the front lawn of the home when police arrived, the warrant states.

In addition to a murder charge, Valle also has been charged with three counts of first-degree assault.

According to the warrant, police spoke to several juvenile witnesses who said a group of teens showed up uninvited to the Shelton house party after an altercation at a separate party in town that night.

One teen told police he had gone to another party on Lazy Brook Road that night with a friend and got into an argument with a group of guys there, according to the warrant.

"[The teen] stated that he squared off with one of the kids and began fighting in the yard," the warrant reads. "[The teen] stated that he was winning the fight when the other kids jumped on top of him and began to hit him."

The teen said he and his friend were eventually able to get away from the other teens and went to the party on Laurel Glen Drive, according to the warrant.

A short time later, a group of teens, who some witnesses said was the group from the Lazy Brook Road party, arrived at the Laurel Glen Drive home in a Honda Pilot and a large fight broke out, the warrant details.

Witnesses reported seeing Valle with a knife, which one witness described as "a switch blade...some kind of pocket knife," according to the warrant.

Read the Connecticut Post story; read the WTNH-TV story.

— RJ Scofield, Patch Staff, also contributed to this report.