NYPD Officer, Fiancee Arrested In Death Of Officer's 8-Year-Old Son

A New York Police Department officer and his fiancée were arrested Friday for their alleged involvement in the death of the officer’s son at the Long Island home.

Officer Michael Valva, 40, who was placed on suspension, and Angela Pollina, 42, were arrested at the couple’s home in Center Moriches, New York, by Suffolk County police. The couple is being charged with murder for the death of Valva’s son, Thomas, 8.

A Suffolk County District Attorney spokesperson said the couple was scheduled to appear in court for arraignment later on Friday.

Police were called to Valva’s home around 9:30 a.m. on Jan. 17 after his son reportedly fell in the driveway. Thomas was rushed to the Long Island Community Hospital in Patchogue where he was pronounced dead. Police declined to disclose the child's injuries pending autopsy results.

Suffolk County police said during a press conference investigators had discovered signs of alleged abuse in the household and that it played a part in Thomas’ death. A department spokesperson said Thomas had been locked in the garage for hours the night before his death.

“I just really want justice for my son. He deserves it. This should never have happened,” Thomas’ mother and Valva’s ex-wife, Justyna Zubko-Valva, 36, told New York NBC-affiliate, WNBC. “I just keep praying for this case to be fully resolved and my little angel Thomas to rest peacefully in heaven.”

The couple filed for divorce in January 2016 and had been engaged in a custody battle for Thomas and a second child. Zubko-Valva said it had been nearly two years since she saw or spoke to the children.

She has previously accused Valva of domestic abuse and child abuse that included forcing the children to wear soiled clothing, starving and beating them, and locking them in the garage for hours at a time.

These accusations were echoed by Amanda Wildman, who worked from 2017 to 2018 as a nanny Valva and Pollina, who have a six children altogether.

“They wanted to give the impression they were the ‘Brady Brunch’ family when it was more like home crashing,” Wildman told the New York Post. “If [the boys] weren’t eating their food, [Pollina] didn’t care if they had to pee, they had to sit there. They would get yelled at for not going to the toilet. It was very disturbing.”