Angela Pollina moved to Westchester prison to serve sentence for murdering Thomas Valva, 8
Angela Pollina was convicted of second-degree murder on March 10 for murdering 8-year-old Thomas Valva. Credit: Howard Schnapp
Angela Pollina has been moved to a Westchester County prison to serve 25 years to life in the freezing death of 8-year-old Thomas Valva, state prison system records show.
Pollina, 45, was transferred Wednesday from the Riverhead jail, where she had been held without bail since a week after Thomas’ Jan. 17, 2020, hypothermia death, confirmed Vicki DiStefano, a spokeswoman for the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office.
Pollina, who had been held in voluntary segregation in the county jail, is now incarcerated at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, according to the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.
Thomas froze to death after Pollina and Michael Valva, 44, Thomas' father and her fiance at the time, forced him and his 10-year-old brother, Anthony, who were both autistic, to spend the night in the unheated garage of their Center Moriches home when it was 19 degrees outside.
Testimony and evidence at the trial showed that Pollina detested the boys and urged their father to discipline them harshly, including making them spend nights in the freezing garage, because of their incontinence issues — brought on because Pollina denied the boys use of the bathroom in their own home.
Pollina was sentenced earlier this month to the maximum penalty for her conviction by a Suffolk County jury on second-degree murder and four counts of child endangerment charges in Thomas’ killing and the abuse of both Thomas and Anthony. Evidence and trial testimony demonstrated the boys were also starved and physically and emotionally abused at the hands of Valva and Pollina.
Her attorney, Matthew Tuohy said Thursday, "Angela is appealing the conviction and the sentence and is exploring all possible legal remedies."
Supreme Court Justice Timothy Mazzei told Pollina that he had previously visited the Bedford Hills prison — the largest women’s prison in New York — and his “only regret” in sentencing her is that she would not endure the same inhumane conditions in prison that Thomas endured in the freezing garage.
“My only regret, Miss Pollina, is they don’t have a garage there, with no heat, and no mattress, and no blankets and no pillows … nothing that belongs in a bedroom, somewhere you can sleep the rest of your life, because that’s where you deserve to be for the rest of your natural life,” Mazzei told Pollina just before he handed down the sentence.
Pollina testified in her own defense at her trial, calling herself “evil” for banishing the boys to the garage.
Valva was convicted last year on the same charges and is also serving 25 years to life at a state prison close to the Canadian border.
The Bedford Hills prison where Pollina is being held has also housed other notorious prisoners including Amy Fisher, who was a 17-year-old high school student living in Merrick in 1992, when she shot in the head Mary Jo Buttafuoco, the wife of Joey Buttafuoco, who she was having an affair with. Fisher served about seven years before she was released.
Joyce Mitchell, the prison seamstress who helped two inmates escape from the same Dannemora state prison where Valva is being held in 2015, was sentenced to 2 ⅓ to seven years at Bedford Hills.
Pollina won’t be eligible for parole until Jan. 22, 2045, state records show.
Angela Pollina has been moved to a Westchester County prison to serve 25 years to life in the freezing death of 8-year-old Thomas Valva, state prison system records show.
Pollina, 45, was transferred Wednesday from the Riverhead jail, where she had been held without bail since a week after Thomas’ Jan. 17, 2020, hypothermia death, confirmed Vicki DiStefano, a spokeswoman for the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office.
Pollina, who had been held in voluntary segregation in the county jail, is now incarcerated at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, according to the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.
Thomas froze to death after Pollina and Michael Valva, 44, Thomas' father and her fiance at the time, forced him and his 10-year-old brother, Anthony, who were both autistic, to spend the night in the unheated garage of their Center Moriches home when it was 19 degrees outside.
Thomas Valva, 8, appears in a school photograph taken the day before he died of hypothermia on Jan. 17, 2020. Credit: Suffolk District Attorney/tba
Testimony and evidence at the trial showed that Pollina detested the boys and urged their father to discipline them harshly, including making them spend nights in the freezing garage, because of their incontinence issues — brought on because Pollina denied the boys use of the bathroom in their own home.
Pollina was sentenced earlier this month to the maximum penalty for her conviction by a Suffolk County jury on second-degree murder and four counts of child endangerment charges in Thomas’ killing and the abuse of both Thomas and Anthony. Evidence and trial testimony demonstrated the boys were also starved and physically and emotionally abused at the hands of Valva and Pollina.
Her attorney, Matthew Tuohy said Thursday, "Angela is appealing the conviction and the sentence and is exploring all possible legal remedies."
Supreme Court Justice Timothy Mazzei told Pollina that he had previously visited the Bedford Hills prison — the largest women’s prison in New York — and his “only regret” in sentencing her is that she would not endure the same inhumane conditions in prison that Thomas endured in the freezing garage.
“My only regret, Miss Pollina, is they don’t have a garage there, with no heat, and no mattress, and no blankets and no pillows … nothing that belongs in a bedroom, somewhere you can sleep the rest of your life, because that’s where you deserve to be for the rest of your natural life,” Mazzei told Pollina just before he handed down the sentence.
Pollina testified in her own defense at her trial, calling herself “evil” for banishing the boys to the garage.
Valva was convicted last year on the same charges and is also serving 25 years to life at a state prison close to the Canadian border.
The Bedford Hills prison where Pollina is being held has also housed other notorious prisoners including Amy Fisher, who was a 17-year-old high school student living in Merrick in 1992, when she shot in the head Mary Jo Buttafuoco, the wife of Joey Buttafuoco, who she was having an affair with. Fisher served about seven years before she was released.
Joyce Mitchell, the prison seamstress who helped two inmates escape from the same Dannemora state prison where Valva is being held in 2015, was sentenced to 2 ⅓ to seven years at Bedford Hills.
Pollina won’t be eligible for parole until Jan. 22, 2045, state records show.
Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.
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