Witness at Valva trial: Angela Pollina mocked, screamed at Thomas Valva

Angela Pollina, the Center Moriches woman accused in the murder of 8-year-old Thomas Valva, screamed and cursed at Thomas during “vicious outbursts” in the year leading up to the boy’s hypothermia death, a piano teacher testified at Pollina’s Riverhead trial Tuesday.

Tina Licari testified that she gave weekly lessons to one of Pollina’s daughters on an electric keyboard in the basement from about January 2019 to January 2020 and heard Pollina interacting with Thomas.

“I would hear almost like zero to 100 explosion,” said Licari, describing Pollina's outbursts. “She’d be screaming.”

In one instance, Licari said it appeared that Pollina and Thomas’ father, ex-NYPD officer Michael Valva, 43, were mocking Thomas’ autism, when she shouted questions at Thomas and he apparently didn’t answer.

“That’s right, because you can’t talk,” Pollina said, according to Licari, who said the defendant “snickered” with Valva after making the comment.

Pollina, 45, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and child endangerment charges in Thomas' Jan. 17, 2020 hypothermia death, and the alleged abuse of Thomas and his older brother, Anthony, who is also autistic. 

Valva, who Pollina was engaged to and living with at the time of Thomas’ killing, was convicted last year of murder in Thomas' death and is serving a sentence of 25 years to life in an upstate prison near the Canadian border.

The jury heard from five witnesses Tuesday. Pollina’s defense attorney Matthew Tuohy didn’t cross examine any of them.

After court, Tuohy explained: “What am I gonna do? So she yelled at the children several months prior to the incident, I’m not gonna cross-examine, beat up a nice woman who’s coming in to testify. … I want to stick to what happened on the day in question. If I start going there, that’s what they want. You know what? Less is more.”

Tuohy, who has said Pollina will testify in her own defense, has emphasized that his client is not guilty of murder because she didn't have physical contact with Thomas on the morning he died. Tuohy said Valva is solely responsible for Thomas' death. 

“It was Mr. Valva who put the boys in the garage — not Miss Pollina,” Tuohy told jurors in his opening statement. 

Also Tuesday, a second juror was dismissed. Supreme Court Justice Timothy Mazzei said juror number 10 "indicated he had a cold" and though he tested negative for COVID-19, he was not well enough to come to court. Another juror who said she had a cold was also dismissed Monday. There are four alternate jurors remaining. 

Testimony began Tuesday with Suffolk Det. Michael Ronca walking the jury through photos of the interior and exterior of the Pollina-Valva home, pointing out several surveillance cameras on the walls of the home's living areas. 

That surveillance system underpins the prosecution's case. Video and audio from the system played at Valva's 2022 trial showed the boys sleeping on the concrete floor of the garage and captured audio of much of what happened on the morning Thomas died. 

During opening statements in Pollina's trial Monday, prosecutor James Scahill said despite Pollina being "fully aware" that Thomas slept in the garage the night before and that he appeared hypothermic, she "did nothing" to help save the boy after his father doused him with cold water outside in 19 degrees weather. 

Pollina  demanded the boys sleep in the garage because she was enraged that they had bed wetting problems — issues that prosecutors have said were caused by Pollina refusing them access to their bathroom in their own home. 

Scahill described Pollina's treatment of the boys, who according to prosecutors were starved and verbally abused while under her care, as "evil, wicked and inhumane." 

By Nicole Fuller

nicole.fuller@newsday.com@NicoleFuller

Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.