A jury has deadlocked in the murder trial of a Fairfield, Connecticut high school lacrosse player who was killed during a booze-fueled brawl between students during a house party in May 2022, signifying good news for the defense, one expert said.

Raul Valle, now 20, is waiting to learn his fate after he allegedly stabbed James “Jimmy” McGrath, a 17-year-old Fairfield College Preparatory School athlete, to death at a house party. 

Valle was charged with one count of murder and two counts of first-degree assault. He was 16 at the time of McGrath’s stabbing death. 

Split image of Jimmy McGrath, a Fairfield Prep student who was stabbed to death in 2022. (Fairfield College Preparatory School)

Valle attended St. Joseph High School in Trumbull near Fairfield Prep, where McGrath was a junior. 

During the party in Shelton, Connecticut, Valle said he witnessed his best friend Tyler DaSilva, who was also a St. Joseph High School student, being attacked by teens from another school, and jumped into the melee to protect his friend. 

He reportedly insisted during his testimony that he did not know he was going to the Shelton house party until he arrived, and that on the ride over, his friend and driver Jack Snyder gave him the knife used in the stabbing. 

Snyder testified that he gave Valle the knife when Valle asked for it, FOX 61 reported.

Tyler DaSilva, a former St. Joseph High School student, points to Raul Valle as he is asked to identify the defendant as he testifies on the seventh day of Valle’s murder trial in state Superior Court, in Milford, Conn. June 27, 2025.  (Ned Gerard/Connecticut Post via Getty Images)

In 2023, Valle declined a plea deal that would have resulted in a 40-year prison sentence. 

Fox News’ Audrey Conklin contributed to this report.