Thomas Valva murder: A timeline of the case
![Photo of Thomas Valva is next to candles during a...](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.newsday.com%2Fimage-service%2Fversion%2Fc%3AODZmY2NhODgtYzE1Yi00%3AODIzMzhi%2Flivalva221123_photos.jpg%3Ff%3DLandscape%2B16%253A9%26w%3D770%26q%3D1&w=1920&q=80)
Photo of Thomas Valva is next to candles during a ceremony after the boy's death on Jan. 17, 2020. Credit: Howard Simmons
Michael Valva was sentenced Thursday to 25 years to life in prison for the murder of his 8-year-old son Thomas Valva, who died from hypothermia after the ex-NYPD officer forced Thomas to sleep in a freezing garage.
Supreme Court Justice William Condon handed down the sentence to Valva, 43, of Center Moriches, in a Riverhead courtroom packed with spectators – including several of the jurors who decided his fate and teachers – nearly three years after Thomas died on Jan. 17, 2020.
A Suffolk County jury convicted Valva last month of second-degree murder in Thomas’ death and four counts of endangering the welfare of a child for the abuse of Thomas and his then-10-year-old brother Anthony.
His then-fiancee Angela Pollina is slated to go on trial in February on murder and child endangerment charges in Thomas’ death.
Here is a timeline of key events leading up to and including the day Thomas died and how the case has unfolded since.
Feral cat found with rabies . . . Piano Man's last show . . . Travel to Block Island . . . Olympics opening ceremony
Feral cat found with rabies . . . Piano Man's last show . . . Travel to Block Island . . . Olympics opening ceremony