Valva's Demeanor 'Matter Of Fact' On Day Of Son's Death: Witness

LONG ISLAND, NY — Testimony continued Tuesday as a witness in the trial of Michael Valva — an ex-NYPD officer whose son, Thomas, 8, froze to death in his father's garage in 2020 — described Valva's demeanor after his son's death as "matter of fact."

The defense Tuesday cross-examined Suffolk Police Sgt. Norberto Flores, who once again took the stand after multiple days of testimony.

Valva, along with his then-fiancee Angela Pollina, who will have a separate trial, were arrested Jan. 24, 2020, and charged with second-degree murder and four counts of endangering the welfare of a child. If convicted, each faces 25 years to life in prison. Both have pleaded not guilty and remain jailed without bail.

Prosecutors have said Thomas and his brother, who had autism, were forced to sleep in the frigid garage as temperature outside plummeted to 19 degrees. When he died, Thomas' body temperature was 76.1 degrees, 20 degrees lower than it should have been, prosecutors added.

Flores was asked by defense attorney John LoTurco about his talk with Valva at Long Island Community Hospital 18 minutes after Thomas was declared dead. Flores said he was "sitting, rocking back and forth, with his head down. "

Hospital staff and a chaplain were in the family room, with their arms on Valva, and rubbing his shoulders, he said.

Valva and Pollina were also in the trauma room with Thomas' body, and they were "grieving," Flores said, adding that he was not in that room.

When Valva returned from the trauma room around 11:35 a.m., Flores said he asked for a private space to interview him, so they went to the family room. Pollina, he said, was not in that room until much later. She was "in distress" and had been brought to a hospital bed in the emergency room, he said.

At the time, the investigation was "non-criminal," Flores said, and Valva agreed to speak with him. "He said Thomas had fallen on the driveway and hit his head." Thomas had scrapes on his forehead that Valva said were a result of the fall.

Flores said Valva told him that Thomas had "pooped himself" that day, and he went to clean him by taking him into the garage; he was wearing pull-ups. Both Thomas and his older brother were told each day to toss their pull-ups into a trash can outside the garage, he said. Valva had no issue with detectives examining the bag, which was among others outside on the patio, he said — he also said he asked that the clothing Thomas had been wearing be retrieved.

Valva told Flores that he took Thomas into the basement for a shower, and that he was "wobbly" and complained about being cold, so the shower was converted to a warm bath. At some point, LoTurco asked Flores if it was correct that Thomas' condition worsened, so he went to get Pollina and when he got back, Thomas was slumped over the side of the tub and "not breathing correctly."

"I believe so," Flores said.

Valva then reportedly wrapped Thomas in blankets; he stopped breathing and Valva called 911.

The 911 call was again played in court. Valva said, on the call, that his son was not breathing, and he needed an ambulance immediately. He said Thomas had fallen and banged his head and was, at first, okay, but then, when he appeared to worsen, he put him in the shower, "to help him out a little bit," Valva said.

He was heard giving Thomas CPR. "Get here quickly!" he said. He questioned why Thomas' belly filled with air during CPR. He was told to take Thomas from the sofa and put him on the hard floor for the CPR.

In the hospital, Valva did not object to detectives at the house processing "the scene," Flores said. When asked about the camera system, he said he did not have access or control over the system, but that Pollina did.

When asked about Valva's demeanor after Thomas' death, Flores said Valva "wasn't crying while telling me the story. He was matter of fact." When he was finished recounting the events, Flores said Valva "did cry and put his head down, with his hand to his face."

It's not the first time that Flores has testified that Valva did not cry while recounting the details of the day, although he did cry when finished: At a pretrial hearing in 2021, while describing the morning Thomas died, Flores said Valva was "matter-of-fact. He wasn't crying," while being questioned — but he believed he did put his head down and cried at the end of the interview.

Flores said when he spoke with Pollina about the cameras, she was "distraught" and concerned about how the children would get home from school and who would tell them about Thomas' death. She told him the camera system was internet-based and the Nest username but had forgotten the password, he said.

When asked about the medical records, Flores said, although he requested them he was not a doctor or a medic, and they needed to be analyzed by someone else.

During opening arguments, Assistant District Attorney Laura Newcomb told the jury that Thomas had an accident and soiled himself, she said. Valva "began screaming, 'Stop pooping. I should make you eat this ---t," Newcomb said.

Then Valva took Thomas outside into the cold and hosed him down with icy water from the spigot, she said. Thomas began falling head-first onto the concrete. "What did this father do?" she asked, pointing at Valva. "Did he try to help him? No. He began yelling, 'F--- you, moron, walk!'"And later, he said of Thomas, "He's cold. Boo f------ hoo," Newcomb said.

Thomas died a few hours later of hypothermia, according to the Suffolk County medical examiner's determination.

Looking back to September 2017, when Valva and Pollina moved in to 11 Bittersweet Ln. in Center Moriches, with both Thomas and his brother, and finding it difficult to communicate, the boys were "punished if they didn't use their words," given no food, she said.

The boys were starving at school, eating crumbs from the floor and half-eaten food from the trash, Newcomb said. In a year, his brother had lost 20 pounds and Thomas gained only a pound, she said.

Also, although both boys had been toilet trained when they began living with Valva and Pollina in 2017, by 2018, they were back in Pull-Ups. Due to their accidents, they were forced to sleep on the floor, on pads meant for training dogs, Newcomb said.

There was also physical abuse, Newcomb said. The boys were slapped and punched; teachers reported red marks, scrapes and bruises, and their soiled clothes reeked of urine, she said.

And, she added, there are the texts. Newcomb read one that said the boys, if they refused to listen, would be put out in the snow.

Or another: "I will beat them until they bleed," Newcomb read.

And, Newcomb said during opening arguments Valva texted, at another time: "When I get home I'm going to f------ handcuff him," Newcomb said.

Defense attorneys, however, maintained that Pollina was the dominant person in the relationship, whose "trigger" was the boys' incontinence that sparked her anger.

Recent witnesses included teachers at Thomas' school, who have sobbed on the stand as they recounted seeing Thomas and his brother starving, cold, with bruises and scratches, and eating crumbs from the floor.

Testimony continues Wednesday in Riverhead.