Trial For 2 Charged In Freezing Death Of Thomas Valva, 8, Set To Begin

CENTER MORICHES, NY — Jury selection is set to begin Wednesday for the trial of ex-NYPD Officer Michael Valva — whose son Thomas Valva, 8, froze to death in his Center Moriches garage in 2020.

Once that jury selection is complete, jury selection will begin for Valva's then-fiancée, Angela Pollina. Two separate juries will be chosen for the trial, according to Suffolk County Supreme Court Justice William Condon, who will preside. He made that ruling in Sept. 2021, when the trial was initially postponed.

In August 2021, Condon also ruled that a jury will be allowed to watch surveillance videos of the home where Thomas froze in the garage.

After Thomas' death, then-Suffolk County District Attorney Tim Sini unsealed five-count indictments against Valva and Pollina. Valva and Pollina were arrested Jan. 17, 2020, and charged with second-degree murder and four counts of endangering the welfare of a child. If convicted, they face 25 years to life in prison. Both remain jailed without bail.

In February 2020, Assistant Suffolk County District Attorney Kerriann Kelly painted a grim depiction of the day Thomas died; he was left overnight in the frigid garage with no blankets as temperatures outside plunged to 19 degrees, she said.

John LoTurco, attorney for Michael Valva, told Patch on Tuesday that jury selection for his client was slated to commence Wednesday.

LoTurco and Anthony LaPinta, of Barket, Epstein, Aldea & LoTurco, LLP, released a statement regarding their client Valva.

“Michael Valva and our defense team are ready to proceed to jury selection and trial. We appreciate the complex challenges of jury selection considering the tragic nature surrounding the case, and the extensive negative pretrial publicity," the statement read. "However, we are hopeful that we can select a fair and impartial jury in Suffolk County by having thoughtful, honest and meaningful conversations with prospective jurors."

The statement continued: "At trial, if the jury scrutinizes the evidence without any preconceived opinions, and if they follow the law including delivering a verdict free of emotional appeal, then we are confident that a truly fair and impartial jury will understand that Michael Valva did not commit the murder of his son Thomas Valva, nor did he engage in conduct that created a grave risk of death to his son.”

Matthew Tuohy, attorney for Pollina, said his client is "maintaining her innocence, 100 percent. She is innocent."

The goal, he said, is to find a jury who will "look at the facts, and not let emotion take over."

"It's a terrible tragedy — especially when a young boy dies," he said. "People want blood — they want someone to be accountable. But she's innocent."

Pollina's attorney continued: "Were there bad decisions made? Yes. It was difficult to manage a household with all those children, children with disabilities. On the day this happened, she's got no part in it except trying to help him [Valva] and even he didn't intentionally do this. This is a tragedy."

At the time of Thomas' death, he and his two brothers, and Pollina's three girls, all lived in the home.

Jurors, Tuohy said, "have to follow the law and not let emotion take over, who have the intelligence to make the right decisions. There are people out there saying she should fry, and they don't even know the evidence yet. And this isn't me posturing or grand-standing. She's not even close to being guilty of murder."

Thomas and his brother Anthony, 10, were undernourished, begging for food, and foraging through the garbage at school because they were so hungry, the assistant Suffolk County district attorney said in February 2020. Teachers asked Pollina and Valva to send more food to school with the boys, but that did not happen, she said.

The boys were sent to school with their hands and cheeks red and cold to the touch, Kelly said. By their second year in the East Moriches School District, the boys were wearing diapers that were often soiled, she said. They were told not to see the nurse and did not, because they were "in fear" of Pollina and their father, she said. The boys, she added, slept in a room with no access to a bathroom and when they soiled themselves, were punished by being made to sleep on the cold cement floor of the basement, with no blankets, no mattress, no pillows and no extra clothes to keep them warm.

Videos taken in the house a day and a half before Thomas died showed both boys in the garage, with Thomas shaking from the cold, saying he needed to use the bathroom, and looking at the camera "with pleading eyes for someone to help him," Kelly said.

On the night he died, it was 19 degrees outside, and he was left in the freezing garage with no blankets, she said.

Thomas' mother, Justyna Zubko-Valva had pleaded for help on her Twitter page before her son died. In 2020, Zubko-Valva filed a $200 million wrongful death suit. She has been joined by scores of supporters at rallies and marches since her son's death, demanding "Justice for Thomas."

Zubko-Valva did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

In June, a judge ruled that portions of the $200 million lawsuit filed by Zubko-Valva after Thomas died can move forward, a judge ruled.

According to Manhattan Attorney Jon Nurinsberg of Norinsberg Law, representing Zubka-Valva, U.S. District Judge Edward R. Korman has ruled that portions of the suit accusing Suffolk County and Child Protective Services could proceed. He allowed both federal and state claims against Suffolk County and state law claims to continue against the school district, Norinsberg said.

"Tommy's death was not only foreseeable, but completely preventable," according to the complaint.

Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney's office said he could not comment on pending litigation.

Zubko-Valva's goal is to see "Tommy's Law" passed. It would improve how custody and mandatory child abuse reporting is handled and investigated, as well as create a foundation that would help protect other children like Tommy, her attorney said.