Settlement reached in suit over 8-year-old boy’s freezing death

The mom of an 8-year-old boy whose ex-NYPD cop dad murdered him by forcing him to freeze to death in a garage, reached a settlement in her $200 million lawsuit against Suffolk County, court records show.

Justyna Zubko-Valva reached an agreement in her 2020 federal civil case, claiming Suffolk County courts, school district and child protective services failed to save her autistic son, Thomas, despite her repeated complaints against dad Michael Valva and his fiancée Angela Pollina.

The terms of the “global settlement” were not disclosed and the agreement hasn’t been signed off on yet by a judge — who ordered both sides Wednesday to file a mediation report by Oct. 8, according to court records.

The Suffolk County legislature must also approve the deal before it’s finalized.

The agreement comes after mediation sessions were held between lawyers for the county and Zubko-Valva throughout the year.

While the settlement figure hasn’t been disclosed yet, Zubko-Valva rejected an offer of $3 million in 2023, upon discovering the figure was being offered to close out the case against all the defendants — including Valva and Pollina, who are both serving 25-years to life in prison for Thomas’ murder.

Her lawyer, Thomas Bosworth, told a judge earlier this year that the mom was willing to settle for $10 million, according to a report by Newsday.

In her suit, Zubko-Valva — who had been embroiled in a bitter divorce from Valva at the time of her son’s death — claimed that she repeatedly complained about the abuse and torture that her three children were suffering at the hands of Valva, 46, and Pollina, 48, who had custody of the kids.

A scathing report released by the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office last year, corroborated that 11 separate reports were filed with the Child Protective Services which marked the claims “unfounded” and private, keeping them under wraps until after the murder convictions.

“All of those 11 reports were made prior to the death of that child,” DA Ray Tierney said at the time. “No one looking at this can come to any other conclusion other than CPS failed these boys, failed these boys miserably, and as a result, Thomas died.”

Thomas succumbed to hypothermia after being locked in a freezing garage for as long as 16 hours when temps had dipped as low as 19 degrees. Thomas’ 10-year-old brother, miraculously survived the horrific treatment.

Valva — a 15-year veteran cop — once texted Pollina of Thomas and Anthony that he would “beat them until they bleed … It is the only thing that works.”

Tierney advocated for changing the laws surrounding the disclosure of Child Protective Services records, including to allow suspected abuse cases to be unsealed for grand juries and law enforcement.

Firms Liakas Law and Bosworth DeAngelo, who represent Zubko-Valva, said, they can’t disclose the settlement figure yet as the Suffolk County legislature needs to first approve it. They added that the litigation has been extremely emotional for their client.

“This resolution underscores the importance of working together with legislators to bring meaningful reforms to protect our children,” the team said. “And unfortunately the tragedy that occurred, while we can’t bring him back, will hopefully be a step in the right direction to protect other children.”

“It’s a traumatic ordeal for [Zubko-Valva’s] family and herself dealing with her former spouse serving a potential life sentence, and losing a child and having her other children going through this ordeal,” the legal team said.

A lawyer for Suffolk County declined to comment Thursday.