Federal judge orders Thomas Valva wrongful death case to trial after settlement falls apart

A federal judge has ordered the wrongful death lawsuit stemming from the 2020 death of 8-year-old Thomas Valva to go to trial in September, after a $9 million settlement with Suffolk County collapsed over unresolved legal disputes, according to a report.

U.S. District Judge Brian M. Cogan set jury selection to begin Sept. 22 in federal court in Brooklyn, bluntly declaring in his order: “THIS CASE IS GOING TO TRIAL,” Newsday reported Thursday.

Thomas died of hypothermia Jan. 17, 2020, after his father Michael Valva — then an NYPD officer — and Valva’s fiancée, Angela Pollina, forced Thomas and his older brother Anthony to sleep in an unheated garage in freezing temperatures. The brothers, both of whom are on the autism spectrum, were also deprived of food and beaten by the couple.

Valva and Pollina were later convicted of second-degree murder. Each are serving 25-years-to-life sentences.

The civil case was brought by Thomas’ mother, Justyna Zubko-Valva, who sued Suffolk County, seven CPS supervisors and investigators, school officials, attorneys involved in child placement, and others for $200 million. The suit alleges that the county’s child protective services failed to act despite repeated warnings from staffers at the boys’ school.

School officials have testified that they “flooded” a CPS hotline with reports of Thomas arriving at school starving and bruised, but CPS never removed the children from their father’s custody.

A multi-million dollar settlement was tentatively reached in 2025, but it unraveled after Zubko-Valva repeatedly delayed filing required paperwork, the report states. When the necessary motion was finally filed, defendants including the county objected that it failed to address key issues, including a general release of future legal claims.

Cogan rejected the motion earlier this month, finding that “there is no settlement on the terms proposed.”

Zubko-Valva, whose home is in foreclosure, had sought the bulk of the $9 million payout — more than $5.6 million — via wire transfer, with smaller amounts set aside for her two surviving sons.

For Newsday’s full report, click here.

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