Thomas Valva case: $9M settlement in death of 8-year-old Center Moriches boy could to be in trouble, court filings show

The $9 million settlement reached in the case of Thomas Valva, the 8-year-old Center Moriches boy who froze to death after his NYPD officer father and his girlfriend forced him to sleep in a freezing garage, could be in jeopardy.

A series of new legal filings has delayed final approval of the settlement, which will be paid by Suffolk County and several other entities to Thomas' estate.

A conference on the case scheduled for Friday afternoon was canceled due to the apparent impasse between Thomas' mother, Justyna Zubko-Valva, and her lawyers.

Zubko-Valva, who filed the lawsuit seeking $200 million and at recent court appearances has pleaded for a quick payout of the settlement to avoid foreclosure of her Valley Stream home, is at odds with the second attorney she's hired to represent her and her two surviving sons.

"I'm writing this letter to the court out of tremendous concern for the proper, credible, and truthful finalization of my settlement agreement that unfortunately was deeply harmed by unlawful, fraudulent and dishonest action of my attorney," Zubko-Valva wrote in a seven-page letter to the presiding judge.

And she doesn't want to pay her current attorney — nor her previous one — the $3 million fee charged for the case.

"He truly does not deserve to receive it," she wrote to the judge of her current lawyer.

The disagreement between Zubko-Valva and her legal team, which included another of her attorneys begging her to get on the phone with him during a recent court conference, has raised concerns.

"The discord between Mrs. Valva and [her attorney] is concerning," wrote John Bailey, an attorney for Suffolk County who is involved in the proceedings.

The judge set a Feb. 12 deadline for Zubko-Valva’s attorneys to file a new motion.

Zubko-Valva could not be reached for comment. Her attorney, Thomas Bosworth, of Philadelphia, did not respond to a message seeking comment.

Eight-year-old Thomas died from hypothermia on Jan. 17, 2020, after his father, Michael Valva, then an NYPD officer, and his fiancee, Angela Pollina, forced Thomas and his older brother Anthony, both on the autism spectrum, to sleep on the bare concrete of their garage in sub-freezing temperatures without pillows or blankets, according to trial testimony.

Zubko-Valva had lost custody of Thomas and his brothers two years earlier during a contentious divorce.

Valva and Pollina each were convicted of second-degree murder at separate trials and are serving sentences of 25 years to life in upstate prisons.

The settlement was reached five years after Zubko-Valva filed suit against Suffolk County; seven Child Protective Services supervisors and investigators; Valva and Pollina; several attorneys and law offices involved in the placement of the children; and the East Moriches school district and administrators.

The complaint said that Thomas' death was "not only foreseeable, but completely preventable" following years of reports to CPS by Zubko-Valva describing the abuse. Trial testimony also showed that teachers and staff at the boys' elementary school made numerous reports to CPS about the children coming to school hungry and appearing to have been beaten, but they remained living with their father.

The agreement to settle Zubko-Valva's lawsuit came last September. U.S. District Judge Edward R. Korman told the parties he would approve the settlement, but needed a motion submitted by her lawyers to do so.

But Zubko-Valva has strenuously objected to the motion submitted by her lawyer as well as the most recent one filed this month.

As noted in the recent letter to the judge by the attorney representing Suffolk, she's also refused to sign a general release, which would relinquish all future claims.

"The settlement as proposed ... was intended to resolve all claims raised," Bailey wrote. "If Mrs. Valva continues in her refusal to sign a general release ... [it] risks leaving Mrs. Valva's direct claims unresolved — which was not the parties' intention in entering into this settlement."

Korman said he could not consider a motion from her lawyer for final approval of the settlement because emails she wrote to the court "make clear that she did not consent to the filing."

The judge also said he would not consider Zubko-Valva’s attempt at filing her own motion "not only because it is the submission of a represented party but also because it explicitly rejects any motion to approve an infant compromise," a legal requirement to approve a settlement for minors.