Michael Valva indicted on murder, child endangerment charges, court papers show
Michael Valva is led out of police headquarters in Yaphank on Jan. 24. Credit: James Carbone
The NYPD officer and his fiancee accused of killing the man's 8-year-old son, Thomas Valva, have been indicted on charges of second-degree murder and endangering the welfare of a child, according to court records.
Michael Valva, 40, and Angela Pollina, 42, of Center Moriches, are set to be arraigned on the indictments on Thursday before Judge William Condon in Suffolk County Court in Riverhead, according to the court records.
A Suffolk County grand jury returned a five-count indictment for both defendants, charging each with second-degree murder and four counts of endangering the welfare of a child, the court records say.
Valva and Pollina were arrested Jan. 24 and pleaded not guilty to initial second-degree murder charges in connection with the death of Thomas, who authorities said was forced by the defendants to sleep in a freezing garage when outside temperatures were 19 degrees. Thomas, who was on the autism spectrum, died Jan. 17 from hypothermia, authorities said.
Matthew Tuohy, the Huntington-based defense attorney for Pollina, said Monday that it's a "difficult balance" to "aggressively assert" his client's innocence, "while also simultaneously respecting how strongly others feel about young children and their protection."
"Out of respect to the young boy and all others impacted by this terrible tragedy, I want to hold off on making any additional comments other than my client maintains her innocence and in no way had committed a murder," said Tuohy in a text message. "In addition, the core of our nation’s laws provides for every person to enjoy not only the presumption of innocence, but the right to a lawyer of their choosing, and a fair trial as well. It is important as the case progresses that everyone not rush to judgment about Ms. Pollina and be guided by those very principles that are the cornerstone of our Constitution.”
A lawyer for Michael Valva could not be reached for comment.
Sheila Kelly, a spokeswoman for the Suffolk District Attorney's Office, declined to comment.
Meanwhile on Monday, a task force established to review policies and procedures at Child Protective Services related to children with autism held its first meeting in Hauppauge, said Suffolk Deputy County Executive Jon Kaiman, a co-chair of the task force. The county's Department of Social Services is also doing an internal review of its handling of the case.
“One thing is constant— something went horribly wrong and a child died," Kaiman said after the meeting. "What we want to find out is how did we get to the point that a child died? What do we do to make sure it doesn’t happen again?"
With Michael O'Keeffe
Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.
