By Julianne McShane -
NBC News
A woman has been found guilty of the death of her 8-year-old stepson, who froze to death in January 2020 after being forced to sleep in the garage of the family home on Long Island, the Suffolk County Prosecutor's Office said Friday.
Angela Pollina, 45, was found guilty of second-degree murder and four other counts of endangering the welfare of a child,
Thomas Valva
, who died of hypothermia one day after being locked in the garage of his home under temperatures reaching 20 degrees Fahrenheit.
[Boy's mother Anthony Avalos and her boyfriend found guilty of his 2018 murder]
Pollina's conviction comes four months after her ex-fiancé and father of the children, Michael Valva, was found guilty on the same charges.
Valva has worked with the NYPD since 2005 and was convicted and faces 25 years to life in prison.
Penalties for urinating in the house
Thomas and his older brother, Anthony,
spent 16 hours in the unheated garage as punishment
for urinating and defecating in the house, the NBC News affiliate in New York reported.
A medical examiner ruled the boy's death a homicide, citing hypothermia as a determining factor.
Thomas and his 10-year-old brother suffered from
autism spectrum disorder
and were sometimes forced to sleep in the garage, according to prosecutors.
The casket of 8-year-old Thomas Valva during his funeral in Melville, New York, on Jan. 30, 2020.Kevin Hagen/AP
“The cruelty Thomas and his brother endured for the defendant's callous and selfish conduct is abhorrent, and fortunately, the jury agreed,” Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney said in a statement after the trial. verdict.
"The treatment he gave these children was pure evil
. "
The verdict followed a two-week trial in which prosecutors portrayed Pollina as an "evil stepmother" who tortured the children and failed to help Thomas as she claimed, noting that the boy died of hypothermia and had a core temperature of 76. degrees Fahrenheit when he arrived at the hospital (22 degrees below what is considered normal for a child), according to the NBC News affiliate.
[Tampa police officer who dragged a woman across the ground to jail and was caught on video fired]
Pollina's lawyers insisted that she was not responsible for her stepson's death.
During the trial, the woman admitted that
she did not allow the children to use any of the four bathrooms in the house
, the local media reported.
Brothers of Anthony Avalos recount the torture to which their parents subjected them
Feb 2, 202300:51
When Pollina was asked if she believed it was her “duty to protect (her stepchildren) from harm” or if she treated them differently from other children, she replied: “I did the best I could”.
Pollina is expected to appear in court for her sentencing on April 11.
According to the Prosecutor's Office, she faces a sentence of between 25 years and life imprisonment.
"She is understandably devastated by the conviction and we will exhaust all next steps to try to help her," her attorney, Matt Tuohy, said in a statement to NBC News.
With information from The Associated Press.
