Valley Stream marches in honor of Thomas Valva

Hundreds of supporters from Valley Stream and the surrounding communities gathered at the Arthur J. Hendrickson Park for a memorial walk on Sunday organized to honor the life of an eight-year-old boy who was allegedly abused and killed by his father and his fiancé. 

On Jan. 17, Thomas Valva reportedly died in Long Island Community Hospital shortly after being found unresponsive in an unheated garage at his home in Center Moriches, Suffolk County. He was reportedly on the autism spectrum, and his father, NYPD officer Michael Valva, and his fiancé Angela Pollina were charged in his death after they allegedly forced him to sleep there in 19-degree temperatures. The two have pleaded not guilty.

Thomas’s mother, Justyna Zubko-Valva, currently lives in Valley Stream, along with her two other sons, who she was reportedly awarded temporary custody of after their brother’s death. They currently attend Wheeler Avenue School.

Now, a little over a month later, Zubko-Valva, along with local supporters gathered at the park as they reflected on the young boy’s life tragically cut short.

“I’m grateful for everyone’s love and support,” she said of the well wishers, noting that it showed solidarity against child abuse, which in light her son’s death is an issue of great importance to her. “. . . Tommy’s watching over this, and he is grateful for everyone gathered here today.”

Residents in attendence largely expressed shock at the nature of the boy’s death.

“What happened to Thomas is heartbreaking, and as a parent, I have a lot of mixed emotions about what happened,” said Valley Streamer Angela Ciullo, who works as a lunch aid at Wheeler Avenue. “The fact that so many people gathered here today, shows that Valley Stream has always been a family.”

Resident Sandra Torres said she came to the march because she wanted to show support Zubko-Valva, and let her know that she is not alone. 

“Events like this help bring awareness and it helps bring light to situations like this,” she said. “The little boy was autistic and he couldn’t speak for himself. This event reminds us that we need to care for those in the community who can’t speak up for themselves.”

As a pre-kindergarten teacher in Brooklyn for 45 years, Janet Miserandino said that she has seen the results of child abuse and neglect first-hand in her own students, and whenever she suspected that a child was being abused, she would not hesitate to call, and report the issue. 

“I always make that phone call because I would rather be wrong, than not help,” she said. “I wish that all teachers would begin to swallow their resistance and make those phone calls . . . because the stakes are too high to ignore them.”

“Thomas’ death is a horrific thing and I’m a mom of three, so it’s hard for me to imagine something like this happening,” Mary Attianese said. “I think this is a tragedy and so many parents can’t believe this happened, and it happens more than we think.” 

“Children are innocent and they need a voice,” Anastasia Tanton, a Valley Stream native said. “I think everybody has a soft spot for tragedies like this because it’s just heartbreaking and you never want to see that happen to anybody.”  

As the march came to an end, the attendees gathered in a large circle around a weeping cherry tree, which was recently planted in honor of Thomas. At its base was a plaque dedicated to him. Then, white carnations were distributed, and placed around the tree in recognition.

After, Zubko-Valva gave closing remarks to the crowd, and expressed hope for changes to law that would allow for officials to be more proactive in alleged child-abuse cases.

“I want to thank each one of you for coming to this amazing event and for supporting me and my children and showing an enormous amount of love,” she said, through tears. “. . . We cannot stop and we won’t stop to make sure that every single child who is being severely affected by the system will receive justice.”