RIVERHEAD, NY — Testimony continued Thursday in the trial for Angela Pollina — former fiancée of Michael Valva, an ex-NYPD officer convicted of murder in the death of his 8-year-old son Thomas, who died of hypothermia after being forced to sleep in his father's frigid garage.

Valva and Pollina were arrested Jan. 24, 2020, and charged with second-degree murder and four counts of endangering the welfare of a child. Each faced 25 years to life in prison, and both pleaded not guilty.

Jurors convicted Valva of second-degree murder and four counts of endangering the welfare of a child in Thomas' death. The boy froze to death in the Center Moriches garage. His father was sentenced to 25 years to life behind bars.

Thursday marked the third day of Pollina's trial; opening arguments were heard Monday and there were no proceedings Wednesday.

Teachers and the principal from East Moriches Elementary School testified Thursday.

Pollina appeared in court with a long braid, blond in her hair, and in glasses.

Edward Schneyer, principal of East Moriches Elementary School, took the stand first. He described how both boys were placed in their classes; both Thomas and his older brother were autistic and were first placed in self-contained classrooms but both were higher functioning. Therefore, Anthony later was transitioned to an integrated, co-teaching classroom and Thomas, to general education classes.

Describing his memories of the boys, Schneyer said when they first enrolled in the district. "They came in happy kids, healthy. They fit right in. They liked to follow the rules."

All that changed, however, as the year progressed, Schneyer said. School officials began to worry about food; the boys were always hungry, he said. By April, both had a noticeable loss of weight in their cheekbones, which is not typical, Schneyer said. "Students usually gain weight," he said.

Schneyer also noted the number of cases open with Children's Protective Services.

There was no concern about weight loss with the other four children living in the Valva/Pollina household, including Pollina's three girls, who always came to school with haircuts, highlights, and nice clothing; Schneyer said. Thomas and his brother always wore the same clothes and were often dirty, he said.

After the boys returned to school in 2018, there were heightened concerns about weight loss, Schneyer said, with the older Valva boy ultimately 11 lbs. lighter in April, 2018, than he had been during his summer physical. In September, he'd lost 20 lbs., Schneyer said.

Valva and Pollina told the school when the boys came back for the new year that they were "more emotional" and had lost control of their bowels and were in pullups, Schneyer said.

Concerned about the weight loss, Schneyer said weight checks commenced at school. After CPS was called, Schneyer said, as was the pattern, things got better for a while and "then declined" again.

After one CPS call, Anthony "miraculously" gained 13 lbs. back; the boys' faces were fuller, he noted.

Valva also sent a note to school from a pediatrician saying the boys were of normal weight and that there was no reason for weight checks, Schneyer said. "I said, 'This is not a court order,'" Schneyer said, adding that he instructed the staff at school to conduct weight checks if they were concerned.

As time passed, the boys were once again coming to school hungry, Schneyer said. On one particular day, the boys were "starving" and when asked why, he said the boys told him they "hadn't used their words" with Pollina and couldn't have any breakfast.

When he called Valva, he was told that Pollina had put out a full array of foods for the boys but they "weren't hungry," Schneyer said. And when he called Pollina, she said she never made breakfast; the kids were responsible for feeding themselves, he said.

"Three different stories," Schneyer said.

By March, the older Valva boy, who had once loved school, was slated to be kept home because Valva and Pollina said "he hates school," Schneyer said. Once, he refused to get off the bus and was kicking and screaming; Schneyer said he was told to behave that way so that he would be asked to leave school and could enroll elswhere, with Pollina offering him a treat of Chuck E. Cheese for the behavior, Schneyer said.

Also in March, Valva and Pollina were offered parent training on how to deal with the boys' autistic behaviors; after one session, they said the services of the expert would no longer be needed, Schneyer said.

The boys, at this point, were coming to school in urine soaked clothes, smelling of urine, exhibiting weight loss, with cold, chapped hands, and with bruises and lacerations, Schneyer said. He and other school staffers conveneed and decied to "flood" the CPS hot line with calls.

The school ultimately learned that the boys were forced to sleep in the garage, he said.

Despite the calls, "nothing changed," Schneyer said.

At one point, Thomas had a bruise on his forehead from a "backpack thrown at him," Schneyer said. And in December, 2019, Thomas had marks on both sides of his face, with a "deep laceration" above his right eye, Assistant District Attorney Kerriann Kelly said, showing a photo.

When asked about the bruises, Schneyer said Valva said they had come from the boys playing football on the grass; Schneyer told Valva and Pollina that the bruises had likely come from falling on some kind of concrete and the "excuses changed," he said, to the boys tackling one another on the patio.

When asked if the photo accurately depicted the injuries, Schneyer said he thought "they looked worse in person."

Another CPS report was filed, he said.

With the hunger issues continuing, Schneyer said Valva and Pollina were asked to send in at least a full sandwich for each child and three snacks, but the issues continued.

After filing CPS reports over issues including the food rationing and weight loss, "children afraid to be home," and the fact that there were bruises and the boys were pale and cold, Schneyer said Valva told him that if there were five unfounded CPS reports, he intended to sue the school — something he said Valva said he would do.

Discussing how the boys were always cold, Schneyer said the teachers always kept a sweatshirt for the older Valva boy at school, which he wore while there. One day, he said, Pollina was at the school for an issue involving her daughters and saw him in the sweatshirt. "She demanded he not wear it," Schneyer said. "She said the boys were used to being cold."

Schneyer also recalled the morning of Jan. 17, 2020, when he, as a volunteer firefighter, got a call about a child, 8, in cardiac arrest at 11 Bittersweet Lane.

"I knew that address, because I had to put iton all the CPS reports," he said quietly.

Matthew Tuohy, Pollina's defense attorney, asked if there were greater challenges when children were autistic. Schneyer said no, because the district had a strong program and professionals well-trained to handle all situations.

Tuohy also asked if Valva was the parent called for the boys' but Schneyer said Angela was always called to the line for a three-party call.

Testimony continued in the afternoon with teachers' emotional accounts of what they'd seen Thomas and his brother endure.

Tuohy has maintained that he wants to focus on the day Thomas died and does not want emotions to overtake jurors. "The emotions are hot," he said.

Pollina is "100 percent going to take the stand," Tuohy said. "She's going to own up to what she didn't do — commit the crime. It's clear Michael Valva did it."

It was Valva who washed Thomas with water from an icy spigot in 19-degree weather, Tuohy said. Pollina wasn't the only person there; the housekeeper was also present, he said. And Pollina brought towels to help, he said.

Of Pollina, Tuohy said, "She's innocent." Valva, he said, committed the act. "She's being brought into this because she lived in the house."

Tuohy said he expects the trial to conclude in three to four weeks.

During Valva's trial, one witness, a plumber, said he saw Pollina throw a child down the stairs. There was also evidence shown of texts reflecting Pollina's frustration with the incontinence of Thomas and his older brother and her stating that she did not want them in the house. Valva's defense team painted an image of Valva as a man stressed over finances, who had nowhere to go with his boys if he had to leave the home he shared with Pollina.

Thomas and his brother were forced to sleep in the frigid garage as temperatures outside plummeted to 19 degrees, prosecutors said. When he died, Thomas' body temperature was 76.1 degrees, 20 degrees lower than it should have been.

Thomas' mother Justyna Zubko-Valva pleaded for help on her Twitter page before her son died. In 2020, Zubko-Valva filed a $200 million wrongful death suit.

Zubko-Valva has not responded to requests for comment.

In June, a judge ruled that portions of the $200 million lawsuit filed by Zubko-Valva after Thomas died can move forward, a judge ruled.

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