Photo: Newsday RM
A former New York City police officer was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison after he was found guilty of second-degree murder in the death of his eight-year-old son.
Michael Valva forced his two autistic children to sleep in the garage for several months with no heat. The two children had to sleep on the cement floor and were not given blankets.
Prosecutors said that on January 17, 2020, the young boy soiled his pants. That angered Valva, who took him outside into the subfreezing temperatures and hosed him down. The boy passed out several times, but Valva waited over an hour until he called 911.
Paramedics rushed the boy to the hospital as his body temperature dropped to 76 degrees. Unfortunately, he was pronounced dead due to complications from hypothermia.
“This is one of the most difficult and heartbreaking cases I have experienced in my nearly 30 years as a prosecutor. Thanks to the great work of my prosecutors and the SCPD, there is a small measure of justice in Michael Valva receiving the maximum sentence,” Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney said in a press release. “However, no prison sentence is adequate for the cruel treatment this defendant inflicted on his own children.”
Valva’s former fiancée, Angela Pollina, 45, is also facing charges of second-degree murder. Her trial will start in February 2023.