Disgraced NYPD Cop Who Allegedly Murdered Son Chokes Up During Pre-Trial Hearing

A NYPD officer facing charges for the death of his 8-year-old son was seen wiping away his tears during his pre-trial hearing on Tuesday. Prosecutors played the 911 call placed on Jan. 17, 2020 by Michael Valva as he tried to revive his son. The officer and his former partner Angela Pollina, both charged with second degree murder, got choked up while listening to the call as they sat across each other in the Suffolk County Supreme Court.

In the recording, Valva could be heard telling the operator that his son Thomas had stopped breathing. “He fell down and banged his head. I don’t know if he’s breathing or not … His heart stopped. He banged his head pretty good.”

The officer then asked the operator if it was normal for his son’s belly to seem like it was filling up with air during CPR.

Valva was asked by the dispatcher to confirm if he was sure his son was not breathing. He replied with what sounded like a nervous chuckle: “I don’t know, to be honest.”

Upon the arrival of first responders at the home located in Center Moriches, Valva is heard pleading with the medics.

According to the New York Post, the officer and his partner are accused of torturing their son to death after authorities said the boy had died from extreme hypothermia last year. Valva and Pollina allegedly forced the boy and his older brother to sleep in their unheated garage while the temperature dipped to 19 degrees outside.

Valva’s lawyer John LoTurco said it was the “first time” his client has heard the 911 call.

During the hearing, Long Island police officer Cassidy Lessard testified that she was the first to arrive at the scene and found Valva on the phone kneeling by his son’s head.

The chilling 911 call was played during the pre-trial hearing to determine whether other evidence in the case, including video and audio surveillance from the home, will be admissible at the trial. The court will decide on the matter as this could be the key whether responding police saw surveillance cameras when they first arrived.

Valva, and his then-fiancee Pollina, pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and child endangerment charges in the boy’s death as well as the alleged abuse of the boy’s older brother.