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The mother of Thomas Valva — the 8-year-old Center Moriches boy who died of hypothermia after being forced to sleep in his home’s unheated garage during freezing temperatures five years ago this month — has increased her settlement demand in an ongoing federal lawsuit against county and school officials and others, according to a Newsday report.
The horrific details of Thomas’s final hours emerged during the murder trials of his father Michael Valva, who was an NYPD police officer at the time of his son’s death, and Valva’s fiancée Angela Pollina in 2022 and 2023. Thomas was made to sleep in the Bittersweet Lane home’s garage without a mattress or any bedding, as temperatures sunk to 19 degrees.
It’s been nearly five years since Thomas’s mother, Justyna Zubko-Valva of Valley Stream, filed a $200 million claim against Suffolk County, several county Child Protective Services workers, East Moriches school officials, attorneys who were tasked with protecting Thomas and his two brothers, and Valva and Pollina.
The home was described by prosecutors as a “house of horrors.” Home surveillance footage captured the boy shivering in the freezing temperatures, and evidence showed Pollina had previously sent video clips of Thomas and his brother Anthony in the garage to Valva while he worked overnight shifts in the city.
Valva and Pollina are serving 25-years-to-life sentences for the child’s murder.
Teachers at East Moriches Elementary School testified that the Valva brothers often appeared starving and came to school with bruises, cuts and other injuries. Despite school officials’ repeated calls to Child Protective Services — including a coordinated effort to “flood” the CPS reporting line — the boys remained in the home, according to evidence presented at trial.
Justyna Zubko-Valva has previously rejected a $3 million settlement offer from Suffolk County that would have covered all defendants in the case, according to the Newsday report. Further, she indicated in November 2023 that she would be willing to settle for $30 million, though her latest demand this week was not disclosed during a conference call on the case on Wednesday, Newsday reported.
The case has faced delays with no depositions taken yet, though a January discovery deadline is approaching, according to Newsday.
After Thomas’s death, a Suffolk County grand jury recommended reforms to the CPS system, some of which officials say have been implemented, Newsday reported.
Top photo: GLI file photo from 2020.
