A jury convicted a former New York police officer of second-degree murder in the death of his 8-year-old son who was forced to sleep on the concrete floor of a freezing cold garage overnight.
Michael Valva, 43, was found guilty on four counts of child endangerment on Friday and faces a possible life sentence with a maximum of 25 years in prison after his son Thomas Valva died in January 2020.
Thomas died after sleeping in the family’s Long Island garage on Bittersweet Lane in central Moriches when temperatures dropped below 20 degrees. A coroner ruled the boy’s death a homicide, noting that hypothermia was a major contributing factor.
“While there is nothing we can do to bring Thomas back, we are pleased with the jury’s decision,” Suffolk District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney said in a statement. “Michael Valva subjected his sons to terrible abuse, neglect and cruelty. He will now pay for shortening the life of a young, innocent, defenseless boy who had a lifetime ahead of him.’
Friday’s verdict came on the first day of trial after a month of testimony. Michael will be sentenced on December 8th.
Michael Valva, 43, was found guilty on Friday of child abuse and second-degree murder in the death of his autistic eight-year-old son
Thomas Valva died of hypothermia on January 17, 2020 after sleeping in his father’s garage on Long Island. Prosecutors said the boy starved to death and was beaten along with his older brother
Valva’s (left) former fiancee Algela Pollina, 42, (right) were both charged with second-degree murder at the time. Pollina is awaiting pre-trial and has pleaded not guilty
Prosecutors said Thomas and his 10-year-old brother were both on the autism spectrum and were forced to sleep in the garage at times.
The boys spent 16 consecutive hours in the deep freeze garage before the 8-year-old died, Newsday reported. Prosecutors also claimed Michael Valva did nothing to help him when the boy died before his eyes and then lied to police and first responders.
Valva’s then-fiancée, Angela Pollina, also faces child abuse and second-degree murder.
Pollina allegedly took part in the abuse and castrated Thomas with cold water during the ordeal at the Center Moriches home. She is awaiting trial and has pleaded not guilty.
The case has been significantly delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Angelina Pollina allegedly participated in the abuse and castrated Thomas with cold water during the ordeal at the Center Moriches home. Pictured: Pollina and Valva
The case has been significantly delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Pictured: Pollina and Valva
The child endangerment count came from the beating and starvation of both boys. Their teachers testified that, according to the newspaper, the boys came to school with bruises and were often so hungry that they ate crumbs off the floor.
East Moriches Elementary School principal Edward Schneyer said when suspicions of the child’s neglect were reported to Michael, he dismissed the concerns.
As a result, the school began “flooding” CPS with calls for Thomas’ well-being, Schneyer said.
Schneyer said that Thomas and his older brother, Anthony, were good looking when they first started school in 2017, but later came to class and looked “extremely emaciated.”
The young brothers came to school cold and hungry, and Thomas sometimes came to class with bruises and cuts on his face.
Anthony, who was 10 at the time, also once came to school drenched in urine.
The children’s conditions temporarily improved each time the school filed a new CPS complaint, but the changes were short-lived, Schneyer said.
East Moriches Elementary School principal Edward Schneyer (pictured) said when the father reported suspicions of child neglect he dismissed the concerns
Justyna Zubko-Valva, Thomas’ mother, said she tried to warn the school about her father’s abuse of her son
Zubko-Valva and her son Thomas before his death. Thomas’ father was awarded custody of Thomas in 2017
Justyna Zubko-Valva, Thomas’ mother, said she spent two years providing the school with evidence of alleged abuse by his father. The evidence ranged from audio recordings to medical records.
She recently got the green light to sue child protection services and school officials for $200 million, a judge ruled.
The father was awarded custody of his two sons – both autistic – in 2017, but Zubko-Valva claims that Thomas’s school did nothing to address their abuse allegations for a full year afterwards.
She claims she gave CPS a USB stick with 320 files containing evidence of abuse, including transcripts from Valva teaching his sons ‘Mom is mean’, ‘I don’t want to stay with Mommy’, ‘I don’t love’ too repeat mom.’
Zubko-Valva said Valva told CPS that she was the abusive mother, that she hit the children and poisoned them with “brown medicine.”
She accused CPS of lying about her findings and fabricated evidence to support the father’s allegations.
Thomas’ mother said that CPS noticed he looked “emaciated” but that they dropped their investigation into Valva 10 days before her son’s death.
Thomas died after sleeping in the family’s Long Island garage on Bittersweet Lane in central Moriches when temperatures dropped below 20 degrees
Thomas was one of six children in Mike and Angela’s care who were living at the home at the time of the little boy’s death. Thomas’ brothers have since been placed in the care of their mother, while Pollina’s daughters have been placed in the care of their biological fathers
On the anniversary of Thomas’ death in 2020, authorities were dispatched to the home where the boy had been living at around 9.40am after his father said the boy had fallen down the driveway and passed out while running to the school bus.
Intervention officers found Valva performing CPR on Thomas in the basement.
The little boy was taken to Long Island Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Cameras and microphones set up at Mike Valva’s home picked up audio of him and Angela mocking Thomas as he froze to death, police said.
The audio files allegedly recorded the couple talking about Thomas suffering from hypothermia, having been washed with cold water, unable to walk and “face planting” on the concrete.
They laughed as they said “he has hypothermia” and that he had “planted the ground in his face.”
Pollina remarked: “Do you know why he falls?”.
Valva replied: “Because he’s cold… boo f*****g hoo”.
After his death, Thomas’s brothers were placed in the care of their mother. Pollina’s daughters were placed in the care of their biological fathers.
SCHEDULE TO TRAGEDY: THE CASE OF THOMAS VALVA
Michael Valva, 41, is charged with second-degree murder and child endangerment in the death of his son Thomas, 8, who was on the autism spectrum and was forced to freeze in a garage overnight in January.
February 4, 2011: Justyna Zubko-Valva, Michael Valva’s now estranged wife, accused Michael of verbal and financial abuse.
September 14, 2011: Thomas Valva is born.
Late 2014: Zubko-Valva accuses Valva of having an affair with Angela Pollina.
2015: Divorce proceedings between Zubko-Valva and Valva begin.
July 2016: Zubko-Valva accused Valva of child abuse, including starvation, dehydration and not providing medical attention to son Anthony when he had a fever.
September 2017: Valva is granted interim custody, with Zubko-Valva receiving unsupervised visits every other weekend.
Fall 2017: East Moriches Elementary School staff raise concerns about abuse at the Valva home.
January 2018: Thomas and Anthony both accuse Zubko-Valva of abuse after meeting with a CPS worker.
April 2018: School psychologist Renee Emin sees bruises on Thomas that Valva allegedly inflicted on him.
February 2019: CPS report says Anthony goes to school with urine soaking.
March 2019: CPS report again cites potential malnutrition and garage penalties.
May 2019: CPS report says Valva threw a book bag at Thomas’ head.
January 16, 2020: Thomas and Anthony are allegedly forced to sleep overnight with blankets, pillows or mattresses in the freezer garage.
January 17, 2020: Suffolk County Police respond to the 911 call after Thomas fell in the driveway. He is pronounced dead at Long Island Community Hospital.
January 24, 2020: Valva and Pollina are arrested and charged with second-degree murder and child endangerment.
February 2020: Valva tells Suffolk Family Court he has been sacked but police claim he was simply suspended without pay.
June 2020: Zubko-Valva files a $200 million lawsuit against officials for failing to heed her warnings about the abuse Thomas was subjected to.
October 28, 2020: Valva resigns from the NYPD with his pension intact.
Source: Newsday
After his death, Thomas’s brothers were placed in the care of their mother.