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On Tuesday, April 11, Long Island resident Angela Pollina was sentenced to 25-years to life in prison for the 2020 murder of Thomas Valva, her 8-year-old step-son. According to the New York Post, Pollina forced Thomas Valva and his surviving older brother, Anthony, to sleep in the cold garage of their home overnight, with no blanket or heating conditions, which ultimately led to Thomas's death.
In an official statement, Suffolk County Supreme Court Judge Timothy Mazzei accused Angela Pollina of subjecting the children to cruel punishment.
Mazzei further added:
“You tortured those boys — you tortured them."
Angela Pollina has been convicted of second-degree murder and child endagerment. Her former fiance and the boy's father, former NYPD officer Michael Valva, was sentenced to 25-years to life in prison last November for his role in the child's death
"That's where you deserve to be for the rest of your life": Authorities condemn the actions of Angela Pollina and Michael Valva
According to CBS, before the death of the children, Angela Pollina was a medical biller with no criminal history. The judge claimed that after she began her relationship with Michael Valva, she became a sadistic disciplinarian who maintained "tyrannical" control over the former police officer's household.
As per prosecutors, Pollina regularly subjected the children to beatings, starvation, and unsafe conditions. At the time of his death, Thomas Valva's body exhibited signs of head injury, alopecia, sunken hips, and dangerously low body fat.
The child also had a chronic kidney infection, which he had allegedly gained from being forced to hold in his urine. At the time of his death, his body temperature had reportedly fallen to a shocking 76 degrees.
The Judge, visibly revolted by the torture experienced by the two children, said that he regretted how humanely the convicted murderer would be treated in prison by comparison.
He added:
“My only regret is, Miss Pollina, they don’t have a garage. That’s where you deserve to be for the rest of your natural life.”
During the trial, Angela Pollina's defense team attempted to frame Michael Valva as the sole perpetrator of the cruel treatment the children were subjected to. However, a witness told jurors that the step-mother would regularly verbally berate the children. She was also accused of mocking Thomas Valva for being on the autism spectrum.
Additionally, the prosecutor said that it was Pollina's idea to move the children to the garage. She said that in order to punish them, they had to remove any source of comfort.
During her trial, Pollina later admitted:
“I treated them bad. I treated them evil. I put them in the garage. It was horrible. Yes, I did … I exiled them.”
Pollina said that on the night Thomas Valva died, she did not realize how cold it had been. She was reportedly in bed at the time and thought that it was only "a little chilly".
