Teenage Connecticut Prep School student arrested in James McGrath’s fatal stabbing

A Connecticut teenager was arrested in the fatal stabbing of a 17-year-old high school student last weekend, police said Wednesday.

James McGrath was killed May 14 at a house party in Shelton, a town about 10 miles west of New Haven. Police officers were called to the home just before midnight, where they discovered McGrath lying outside on the sidewalk with stab wounds. He and three other stabbing victims who sustained non-life-threatening injuries were taken to a nearby hospital, where McGrath later died.

The unnamed suspect, 16, now faces one count of murder and three first-degree assaults, according to the Shelton Police Department.

He turned himself in to The Daily Beast at 3 a.m. Wednesday, Det. Richard Bango of the Shelton, Connecticut Police Department. The teenager was initially held at the Bridgeport Juvenile Detention Center on $2,000,000 bail pending his court appearance in New Haven Juvenile Court on Wednesday afternoon. The case is then referred to Derby High Court and may eventually be referred to Milford High Court.

McGrath’s alleged killer will be tried as an adult, according to Bango, who said the court will ultimately decide whether or not to publicly identify him. He is According to reports, a student at St. Joseph High School in neighboring Trumbull and knew McGrath.

Reached by phone, McGrath’s father Kevin told The Daily Beast on Wednesday that he and his family are “deeply” grateful for the support following his son’s death.

“The police investigation is still pending, but it was just wonderful,” he said. “The Shelton Police Department, the authorities of the neighboring cities who have been supporting them … We hope for a closure.”

McGrath played lacrosse and football at Fairfield Prep, a Jesuit boys’ school on the Fairfield University campus. On Wednesday evening, the congregation will “celebrate [James’] Living through a lacrosse game “between Fairfield Prep and Shelton Prep,” his father said, adding, “We’re just overwhelmed by the compassion that was shown to us.”

The bloodshed left the quiet neighborhood stunned, area homeowners told local media. Police have not released details about a possible motive or the exact reason for the dispute, which ended in McGrath’s murder.

“Jim had so many friends who cared about him deeply,” says McGrath’s obituary. “He was a good friend who had a gift for always seeing the best in everyone and spreading happiness wherever he went. He will be so missed and his memory will be cherished by all.”

More than 1,000 mourners attended a private prayer service on the Fairfield Prep campus on Sunday. The next day, school president Christian Cashman addressed a gathering of students, faculty and staff. Administrators also deployed teams of priests, ministers, and counselors to help McGrath’s classmates process the loss.

“I send my heartfelt condolences once again to the McGrath family,” Cashman said. “May the spirit of healing peace and love envelop them, and may we be instruments of peace and healing in the days to come. May God bless Jimmy McGrath, born 2023, forever a man to others, forever a son of Fairfield Prep.”

The three surviving victims of the stabbing were questioned by detectives.

A GoFundMe campaign created by a family friend has raised more than $113,000 to date, exceeding the $15,000 goal by approximately 650 percent.