The fiancée of the father to an 8-year-old autistic boy who froze to death in a Long Island garage was sentenced to a minimum of 25 years behind bars Tuesday.
But Angela Pollina could spend the rest of her life in prison for the death of Thomas Valva, who was forced to sleep in an unheated garage along with his autistic brother Anthony in 2020.
Prosecutors said both boys were kept from sleeping in the family’s four-bedroom home as punishment for defecating and urinating in the house, according to NBC News.
Justice Timothy Mazzei, the judge who sentenced Pollina, said his “only regret” was that the prison to which she’s headed doesn’t have a garage. The boys’ father — former NYPD officer Michael Valva — received the same sentence as his fiancée in 2022.
Prosecutors painted Pollina as a “wicked stepmother” whose parenting was “evil and cruel.”
She allegedly washed the boys behind the house with a hose. Five other children lived in the Center Moriches home.
Prosecutors claimed Pollina never showed remorse for Thomas Valva’s death by hypothermia, nor did she show regret for what the surviving children witnessed.
“Ironically, prison life will be better than the hell she subjected 8-year-old Thomas and 10-year-old Anthony to,” prosecutor Kerriann Kelly added. “She will be surrounded by adults who will protect her from harm.”
NBC News describes a gut-wrenching trial, where jurors saw autopsy photos and video of the boys shivering on the floor of the garage. They were also reportedly starved.
“I did the best that I could,” Pollina said in her defense last month.
She appeared upset after being convicted of second-degree murder and multiple counts of child endangerment at the end of her two-week hearing.
Pollina’s lawyer told Patch his client was nervous before Tuesday’s sentencing, where she feared getting the maximum sentence handed down by the judge. Her defense hoped for a sentence with a 15-year minimum.
After her sentencing, Pollina’s defense attorney said the 45-year-old convict “will continue to pursue all legal remedies available to her.”
The foreclosed home where the child died — on 11 Bittersweet Lane — is reportedly slated for auction.