Host of deadly party testifies to hearing James McGrath take last breath

The trial for Raul Valle continued for its third full day with four witnesses taking the stand.

Valle, 20, faces a murder charge for allegedly stabbing James “Jimmy” McGrath at a house party in Shelton back on May 14, 2022, along with three others.

On Monday, the focus of the testimonies were around the fight that happened at 43 Laurel Glen Drive between teenagers of Shelton High School and St. Joseph’s.

The first witness was Tyler Rich, the host of the Shelton party.

Rich testified to having invited a group of Shelton High friends to his house. He said there was some drinking, listening to music and hanging out.

He said he saw the defendant, Raul Valle, and Tyler DaSilva in a Honda Pilot outside of his house and proceeded to confront them.

“I don’t know why you guys are here, you are not invited, you need to leave,” Rich told Tyler DaSilva.

Rich said he did not want them there because he was aware they (DaSilva and Valle) had “beaten up” his friend Ryan Hines, at an earlier party at 5 Lazy Brook Rd.

He testified to him and a group of friends approaching the car, and telling the occupants to leave.

At one point, Rich said he placed his hand inside the car in an attempt to put the car in gear, but then the driver began rolling up the window and began to drive off.

Rich testified to the Honda Pilot driving up and down the road, while throwing cans out of the car.

Rich said one of the cans that was thrown out was WD-40, which he eventually sprayed onto Valle, when Valle came out of a bush attempting to hit Rich.

“The defendant came up to me out of the bushes, he was walking towards me with a straight face as if he was trying to start something, so I sprayed WD-40. He just looked at me and walked away,” Rich said.

Rich said he attempted to tell DaSilva to leave again, reminding him of the relationship between their families, but DaSilva was uninterested.

“He responded, you don’t know me or my family,” Rich said.

Rich then testified to DaSilva getting physical, and that's when the fight broke out.

Rich said the moment DaSilva pushed him back, he was able to see Valle get ready to hit Ty Woods, who was like a younger brother to Rich, which prompted Rich to punch Valle.

Rich testified to the fight ending with DaSilva being pushed onto the street, and that's when his friend Tommy Connery told him he needed stitches because he had been stabbed.

Rich said he helped Tommy before then going to help McGrath.

“Upon realizing how severe his wound was and having to see him struggle for his last breath, I had to take myself away from the situation and sat on my back steps and waited for law enforcement to get there,” Rich said. 

During defense attorney Kevin Smith's cross-examination, Smith focused his questions on the underage drinking that happened at Rich’s house.

Attorney Smith: What do you mean by it wasn’t a huge alcohol frenzy?

Rich: This wasn’t an alcohol fueled 70 to 80 person party, we were casually having a few drinks.

Smith also asked Rich about the knife he initially told police he saw in Valle’s hand.

Rich testified that he clarified the statement about a knife with law enforcement, and repeated he never saw Valle with the knife.

The second witness of the day was 20-year-old Aiden King. 

King was briefly on the stand; he provided testimony about the Honda Pilot arriving at the house, and approaching it along with Rich and others.

King testified to speaking directly with Valle and trying to de-escalate the situation while he was still inside the car. 

“I was having a direct conversation with him [Valle] but he threatened to smash a bottle if they didn’t back away from the car, I said don’t do that, and I backed away,” King said. 

The third witness of the day was Enrico “Ricky” Feola. Feola testified to arriving at the party at 43 Laurel Glen Drive with McGrath.

Feola was on the stand for over an hour as he testified to also trying to reduce the animosity with Valle on the night of the party.

Feola said at one point he attempted to “be on Valle’s side,” when he told him “that’s messed up he [Rich] sprayed you, but I don’t think it's worth a fight.”

Feola said that’s when he spotted Valle had a three-inch blade coming down his hand. He said he finished his sentence and walked away from Valle.

Feola testified to only telling his friend Charlie Connery that Valle had a knife.

Feola was not directly involved in the fight, but tried to help his injured friends after the fight.

“Sal, Nicky and I were with Jimmy and they [EMT] started to do compressions on Jimmy," Feola said.

The last witness of the day was Faison Teele, another friend of Rich and McGrath.

Teele testified to getting “some kicks in” during the fight and said immediately after, he saw his friend Tommy Connery had been stabbed and couldn’t move, before someone informed him he had been stabbed.

“I saw Jimmy sitting there bleeding out, then someone came up to me and said, 'Faison, your arm,' and you can see a piece of fat hanging out," Teele said.

Teele and the three witnesses all testified to not having any weapons on themselves, and were unaware of anyone having a weapon, aside from Valle.

The trial will resume on Tuesday with Teele on the stand.