In a one-on-one sit down interview, the family of James “Jimmy” McGrath shared their reaction to the partial verdict in the murder trial against the 20-year-old who killed their son with a pocket knife.

The deadly stabbing occurred at a house party in Shelton on May 14, 2022.

Raul Valle, 20, of Milford was acquitted of murder and first-degree manslaughter – intentional, and of assault charges by a jury on July 9.

One week after the verdict was announced, Kevin and Margaret McGrath shared they were not satisfied with the partial verdict. 

“I went in there with a false sense of we were going to get justice that day. And when I heard ‘not guilty,’ I was just in shock,” Kevin McGrath said.

Margaret and Rosie, Jimmy’s mom and sister, were out of the state when the verdict was announced, but they, too, described feeling confused and overwhelmed.

“When I heard, it was just pure confusion. I truly feel like the jurors heard a different story than we did,” Margaret McGrath said.

Margaret added she could not understand how the jury came to their partial verdict based on the evidence presented during the trial.

“The most impactful part of the story for me was that Jimmy wasn’t in the fight, and the last thing was ‘he has a knife,’ and you could see Jimmy backing away. It’s all on video,” Margaret McGrath said.

Rosie McGrath, Jimmy’s only sibling, shared how attending the trial every day was much difficult than she anticipated. 

“Me and my mom were on a plane to Florida, so we did have a little bit of connection on the flight, and I couldn’t watch it. I heard not guilty, and then there was also so much going on in those few minutes that I was just like, ‘I cannot watch this.’ It was just very overwhelming for me,” Rosie McGrath said.

Margaret said she felt the jury deliberations were very short in comparison to the length of the trial.

“After three weeks of trials, an enormous amount of information from medical, from all the kids that were there. I think they had about 25 witnesses. How were they in a deadlock in two and a half hours? So there was a little fear there, wait a minute, what’s going on? And we weren’t told. We weren’t given any details on what the deadlock was,” Margaret McGrath said.

Kevin McGrath said he would’ve preferred if the judge declared a mistrial instead of the verdict they received.

Out of the 25 witnesses’ testimonies, they said it was Raul Valle’s testimony that stood out the most.

“He kept saying he was slashing, flashing like that — flailing — that was his word, ‘this is flailing, this is a stab.’ If he was in a fetal position…flailing…he would’ve hit ankles. So how did he end up hitting my son’s chest?”

When asked if they would’ve liked to receive an apology from Valle, they said they would never accept it.

“You know, Jimmy was a resource to a lot of his friends that really relied on him for a lot of different things, and he’s no longer there, and they’re really struggling today,” Kevin McGrath said.

Throughout the course of the trial, multiple witnesses testified about the impact the events from May 14, 2022 had on them.

Margaret McGrath said it was very difficult for her to hear the amount of people that continue to grieve the loss of her son.

“That was incredibly hard for us, we were very fortunate for the love and support through our family and our friends, but the impact to hear those statements was heart wrenching,” Margaret McGrath said.

State prosecutors have the ability to retry Valle on the lesser charges that were declared a mistrial.

In regards to the possibility of a second trial, the McGraths said they want to see Valle be held accountable.

“I need to see the conviction. I need to see him leave the courtroom in custody. So he needs to be held accountable for what he did to our son and what he did to our community,” Kevin McGrath said.

You can watch video of coverage from the trial on the NBC Connecticut YouTube page.