A former prep school student has been cleared of murder after he was accused of stabbing a 17-year-old to death over a fight about beer in a glitzy Connecticut town.
Raul Elias Valle, now 20, was found not guilty of murder, manslaughter or assault over the 2022 killing of Fairfield Prep lacrosse player James 'Jimmy' McGrath.
During the trial, Valle's attorney framed the stabbings as self-defense, saying his client was swarmed by teenagers during an 'attack' by other partygoers.
A jury reached a partial verdict Wednesday afternoon. The judge declared a mistrial on the lesser charges the jury could not come to a decision on.
Valle looked relieved as his lip quivered and his eyes began welling up with tears while the verdict was read more than three years after McGrath's death.
