Michael Valva serving murder sentence for son's killing in upstate prison, record shows

Ex-NYPD officer Michael Valva was transferred to an upstate prison to serve his sentence of 25 years to life for murdering his 8-year-old son Thomas Valva by forcing him to sleep in an unheated garage in freezing temperatures, a prison record shows.

Valva, 43, spent Christmas and New Year's Eve in the Elmira Correctional Facility, a maximum security state prison located in Chemung County, according to the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.

Valva was transferred from the Suffolk County Jail in Riverhead to the upstate prison on Dec. 15 — days after he was sentenced to the maximum on his conviction of second-degree murder and child endangerment charges, according to the department's online inmate locator.

John LoTurco, one of the attorneys who represented Valva at trial, said Wednesday that co-counsel Sabato Caponi has filed a notice of appeal of Valva's conviction. A not-yet-assigned appellate attorney will handle the appeal. 

"In addition, we prepared an affidavit for Michael Valva requesting an assignment of counsel since he remains indigent," LoTurco said in an email. "The Second Department in Brooklyn will review the Notice of Appeal and application for assignment of counsel for Michael Valva. That process could take several months. Once 18b appellate counsel is appointed, we would hope and expect that the appellate counsel would consult with the trial attorneys to discuss our opinions on potential issues for appeal." 

A jury found Valva guilty at trial in Thomas' Jan. 17, 2020, death and the abuse of Thomas and his older brother, Anthony, then 10, following more than a month of testimony detailing years of abuse suffered by the children.

The boys, both on the autism spectrum, according to prosecutors, were starved, beaten and forced to sleep on the bare concrete floor of an unheated garage in freezing temperatures, according to trial testimony. The boys' teachers and other school staff testified at trial that the brothers came to school complaining of hunger and coldness. Repeated complaints to Child Protective Services did not result in the children being removed from Valva's care. 

Thomas died of hypothermia after sleeping in the garage when it was just 19 degrees. His body temperature was 76.1 degrees at his time of death, testimony showed.

Prosecutors presented more than 30 witnesses and a trove of video and audio evidence from an extensive home video surveillance system, which took jurors inside of the Valva household in the time leading up to Thomas' death.

Valva's defense attorneys had argued Valva was not guilty of murder because he had not showed depraved indifference toward Thomas' life, and instead had been a loving and concerned father who was involved in his education and provided for the boy to receive religious instruction and to play organized sports.

Valva's co-defendant and ex-fiancee, Angela Pollina, 45, who prosecutors have said also forced the boys to sleep in the garage, is set to go on trial next month on the same charges. She has pleaded not guilty.

A crying Valva apologized to the court before he was sentenced. Lead prosecutor Kerriann Kelly urged Supreme Court Justice William Condon to consider Valva's "great fortune" that his basic needs would be met in prison. 

"He will have a cell with a bed and a blanket and a pillow and heat, as well as three meals a day — all the things he denied his children," Kelly said. "And he won’t have to take food out of the garbage or crumbs off the floor to survive the way Thomas and Anthony did.”

Vicki DiStefano, a spokeswoman for the Suffolk County Sheriff's Office, confirmed Wednesday that Valva left their custody last month. Thomas Mailey, a spokesman for the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, confirmed Valva's state prison placement but declined to comment further. 

Valva's first shot before the parole board is slated for September 2044, according to DOCCS, with his earliest possible release date listed as Jan. 18, 2045 — exactly 25 years and one day after Thomas died. 

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.