Michael Valva moved to upstate prison to serve 25 years to life sentence for murder of 8-year-old son
Ex-NYPD Officer Michael Valva looks on as Suffolk prosecutor Keriann Kelly gives her closing arguments during his trial at Suffolk Criminal Court in Riverhead on Nov. 3, 2022. Credit: Newsday / Alejandra Villa Loarca
Ex-NYPD Officer Michael Valva has been transferred to an upstate prison near the Canadian border as he serves 25 years to life for the murder of his 8-year-old son Thomas, who died after his father forced him to sleep in a freezing garage, state prison records show.
Valva, who had been jailed previously at the Suffolk County Jail in Riverhead since his arrest about a week after the Jan. 17, 2020 death of Thomas, now resides at the maximum security Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, about 20 miles south of the border with Canada, the records show. He arrived to Dannemora last Thursday after a roughly two-month stay at another state prison.
Valva, who turns 44 next month, was convicted during his trial last year of second-degree murder and four counts of endangering the welfare of a child in Thomas’ death and the abuse of both Thomas and his older brother Anthony, both on the autism spectrum. A jury found that Valva, of Center Moriches, forced his sons to sleep on the concrete floor of his home’s garage, resulting in Thomas’ hypothermia death.
One of Valva’s trial attorneys, Anthony La Pinta, confirmed Valva’s move and said he is in protective custody due to his status as a former police officer and the nature of his conviction.
“The move to Clinton Correctional Facility was expected and is the typical path for downstate inmates convicted of homicide,” La Pinta said. “He will eventually be transferred to a maximum security facility closer to Long Island.”
La Pinta added: “Mr. Valva is managing as best as possible. I expect that he will be a model inmate who will avail himself to as many educational and vocational programs as possible.”
The prison houses more than 2,200 inmates on average, and has its own extensive video surveillance system with 2,756 fixed cameras, according to a 2020 audit on prisoner safety at the facility.
Valva’s transfer to the Dannemora prison comes as jury selection in the trial of his ex-fiancee Angela Pollina is scheduled to begin next week. Pollina, 45, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and child endangerment charges in the case.
Days after a tearful and apologetic Valva was sentenced last December, he was transferred from the Suffolk County Jail to the Elmira Correctional Facility, a prison which serves as an initial processing center for inmates that sits southwest of Ithaca and close to the Pennsylvania border.
Thomas Mailey, a spokesman for the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, did not respond to questions about Valva’s transfer to Dannemora other than to provide a description of the inmate transfer process.
The 178-year-old Dannemora prison was the site of an infamous 2015 prisoner escape, which resulted in increased security. Two convicted murderers who were incarcerated at the prison escaped with the help of a prison seamstress and were on the lam for three weeks before one of the prisoners was shot and killed by law enforcement. The other was captured.
Ex-NYPD Officer Michael Valva has been transferred to an upstate prison near the Canadian border as he serves 25 years to life for the murder of his 8-year-old son Thomas, who died after his father forced him to sleep in a freezing garage, state prison records show.
Valva, who had been jailed previously at the Suffolk County Jail in Riverhead since his arrest about a week after the Jan. 17, 2020 death of Thomas, now resides at the maximum security Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, about 20 miles south of the border with Canada, the records show. He arrived to Dannemora last Thursday after a roughly two-month stay at another state prison.
Valva, who turns 44 next month, was convicted during his trial last year of second-degree murder and four counts of endangering the welfare of a child in Thomas’ death and the abuse of both Thomas and his older brother Anthony, both on the autism spectrum. A jury found that Valva, of Center Moriches, forced his sons to sleep on the concrete floor of his home’s garage, resulting in Thomas’ hypothermia death.
One of Valva’s trial attorneys, Anthony La Pinta, confirmed Valva’s move and said he is in protective custody due to his status as a former police officer and the nature of his conviction.
“The move to Clinton Correctional Facility was expected and is the typical path for downstate inmates convicted of homicide,” La Pinta said. “He will eventually be transferred to a maximum security facility closer to Long Island.”
La Pinta added: “Mr. Valva is managing as best as possible. I expect that he will be a model inmate who will avail himself to as many educational and vocational programs as possible.”
The prison houses more than 2,200 inmates on average, and has its own extensive video surveillance system with 2,756 fixed cameras, according to a 2020 audit on prisoner safety at the facility.
Valva’s transfer to the Dannemora prison comes as jury selection in the trial of his ex-fiancee Angela Pollina is scheduled to begin next week. Pollina, 45, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and child endangerment charges in the case.
Days after a tearful and apologetic Valva was sentenced last December, he was transferred from the Suffolk County Jail to the Elmira Correctional Facility, a prison which serves as an initial processing center for inmates that sits southwest of Ithaca and close to the Pennsylvania border.
Thomas Mailey, a spokesman for the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, did not respond to questions about Valva’s transfer to Dannemora other than to provide a description of the inmate transfer process.
The 178-year-old Dannemora prison was the site of an infamous 2015 prisoner escape, which resulted in increased security. Two convicted murderers who were incarcerated at the prison escaped with the help of a prison seamstress and were on the lam for three weeks before one of the prisoners was shot and killed by law enforcement. The other was captured.
Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.
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