The Ex-Girlfriend of a Center Moriches Father Has Been Found Guilty Of Killing a Boy Who Was Imprisoned In a Frigid Garage

Center Moriches 

After a jury trial, the woman who had been the ex-girlfriend of the dad of an 8-year-old who perished in extremely cold conditions while living in the garage of a home in New York has been pronounced guilty of murder.

On Friday, March 10, a jury ruled that 45-year-old Angela Pollina, a resident of Center Moriches in Long Island, was culpable of second-degree murder and related offenses after determining she had played a role in the death of Thomas Valva. In the winter of 2020, 10-year-old Thomas and his younger brother, Anthony, had been required to spend the night in an unheated car garage at temperatures that had dropped below freezing. It was in this environment that Thomas succumbed to hypothermia.

Text messages exchanged between Pollina and her betrothed, Michael Valva, who is forty-five-years-old and the father of the deceased Thomas, for a period prior to his death on January 17th of 2020, demonstrated her demand that the boys sleep in their Center Moriches house's garage instead of the bathrooms inside the house.

On Friday, Nov. 4, Michael Valva, a 43-year-old ex-NYPD officer, was convicted of second-degree murder and four counts of endangering a child.

Evidence presented in court by the office of Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney demonstrated in the Pollina prosecution case.

Due to Pollina's demand, Thomas and Anthony were made to slumber in the garage for multiple months without coverings before the episode occurred.

On the evening prior to his passing, Thomas and his brother spent 16 hours in the garage, devoid of any warmth, restroom, mattress, or coverings while the temperature had dropped to 19 degrees.

In the morning, due to the extreme cold, Thomas had an accident and went through the embarrassment of soiling his trousers.

Pollina was taped on the home security camera doing her bills in the kitchen while evidently cognizant of Thomas's condition, yet she failed to provide any assistance in his care.

When one of the other kids inquired about why Thomas couldn't walk, Pollina answered, "Because he is hypothermic; it's when you are so cold that it feels like you were taking a dip in an icy pool when it's freezing outside."

The recording from the surveillance camera further revealed that she observed Thomas being sprayed with cold water in the yard outside and having a word with his father for shouting as it might draw the attention of their neighbors.

Approximately two hours later, it was declared that Thomas had succumbed to hypothermia.

At the trial, Homicide Detective Norberto Flores gave an account of his arrival to the hospital, and when he inquired, “What took place?” Pollina created an untrue account of Thomas supposedly running for the bus when he stumbled and struck his head.

Since 2017, Thomas and Anthony have been residing in the home with Pollina, a third brother of theirs, Valva, plus Pollina's three daughters.

Witnesses employed within the East Moriches School District, where Thomas and Anthony were both members, provided testimony during the court case, indicating that the boys appeared to be very thin, foraging for food on the ground, and taking food from the plates of other children, as well as fishing for leftovers from trash cans.

Witnesses reported that they were so unclean when they arrived at the school that the school staff could detect odors of urine and feces on them.

In Pollina's defense, she testified to deleting the recordings from the residential security camera, and only came to realize the immorality of dispatching the two brothers to the freezing garage for months once Thomas had already been declared dead at the medical center.

She confessed that the way she treated the boys was “evil,” yet still maintained that it was the boys' father who was responsible for Thomas' demise.

Pollina was found guilty of second-degree homicide, classified as a Class A felony, and four counts of disregarding the welfare of children, regarded as a Class A misdemeanor. Her sentencing hearing is on Tuesday, April 11th and carries a sentence of up to 25 years to life imprisonment.

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