A pre-trial hearing at Suffolk County Court in Riverhead, New York on Monday, May 17 had the housekeeper and the neighbor of a murder accused couple.
The pre-trial took place to determine if the evidence in the case can be thrown out as the defense claims it was wrongfully acquired. They claim that 43-year-old Angela Pollina and 42-year-old Michael Valva did not grant permission to the police to search their home after the death of eight-year-old Thomas Valva. The couple is accused of second-degree murder for allowing the child to die of hypothermia.
The witness, Tyrene Rodriguez, was hired by the couple to clean their home once a week. She told the court that on Jan. 17, 2020, she went to the family’s home as usual. She saw Pollina in the kitchen and they spoke for some time. She then heard Thomas, who she knew was on the autism spectrum, crying. When she asked her employer why the child was crying, Pollina said that the boy had injured himself while trying to catch the bus.
Rodriguez was cleaning one of the bathrooms when she saw Thomas, Michael and Pollina walking to the basement. After some time, the witness claims that Pollina came running from the basement saying that the child was not breathing.
The housekeeper went to the basement to find Michael on a 911 call while being instructed to perform CPR. She helped the father perform CPR by holding the boy’s head still. She told the court that the boy was naked and his body was cold, WPIX11 reported.
Emergency services soon arrived. They failed to resuscitate Thomas at the home so they took him to the Long Island Community Hospital. Rodriguez said that the former NYPD officer changed his clothes before accompanying Thomas to the hospital.
During her testimony, Rodriguez revealed that the couple’s dog slept in the heated mudroom, News Day reported.
The couple’s neighbor, Laura Lauretta, testified that Pollina had been given Xanax at the hospital. The accused’s defense claims that she was drugged when the police made her sign the permit to search her house. This could render any evidence gathered by the police during the search illegal.
It is believed that the couple made the child sleep in the unheated basement on a night where the outside temperature was 19 degrees Fahrenheit. They did it to punish the child. Post mortem examination of the child’s body proved that he died of hypothermia.
Michael and his former fiancée have been charged with second-degree murder and child endangerment which they pleaded not guilty to. Trial continues.
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