November 2022 | Page 15 of 16

Michael Valva Guilty Of Killing Autistic Son

Michael Valva is a former member of the New York Police Department who was just found guilty in the murder of his eight year old autistic son. According to court documents as a form of discipline Michael Valva would force the eight year old boy to sleep on the concrete floor of a garage during a night when the temperature dropped down to below 6 degrees Celsius. Michael Valva would ignore the fact the child was suffering and when first responders would arrive on the scene would make up a story. The eight year old boy would die from hypothermia and other injuries.

Turns out this was a normal punishment in the Valva household. Michael Valva would be arrested and charged with murder and child endangerment which he would later be found guilty. Michael Valva former fiance was also charged with murder and child endangerment and is set to go to trial later this year

Michael Valva More News

A jury convicted a former New York City police officer on Friday (local time) of second-degree murder for the death of his 8-year-old son, who was forced to sleep overnight on the concrete floor of a freezing garage.

Michael Valva was found guilty of four counts of child endangerment and faces a maximum potential sentence of 25 years to life. Thomas Valva died in January 2020, the day after sleeping in the garage in the family’s Long Island home in temperatures that dropped under minus 6C.

Friday’s verdict came on the first day of deliberations after a month’s worth of testimony.

A medical examiner ruled the boy’s death a homicide and found that hypothermia was a major contributing factor. Prosecutors said Thomas and his 10-year-old brother were both on the autism spectrum and were sometimes forced to sleep in the garage.

According to prosecutors, the boys spent 16 consecutive hours in the freezing garage leading up to the 8-year-old’s death, Newsday reported. Prosecutors also alleged Michael Valva did nothing to help him as the boy died in front of him and then lied to police and first responders.

The child endangerment counts stemmed from the beating and starving of both boys. According to the newspaper, their teachers testified the boys came to school with bruises and often were so hungry they ate crumbs off the floor.

“While there is nothing that we can do to bring Thomas back, we are satisfied with the jury’s decision,” Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney said in a statement. “Michael Valva subjected his sons to horrific abuse, neglect and cruelty. He will now pay for cutting short the life of a young, innocent, defenceless boy with a lifetime ahead of him.”

Valva’s then-fiancee, Angela Pollina, also faces child endangerment and second-degree murder counts and is awaiting trial. She has pleaded not guilty.

https://www.1news.co.nz/2022/11/05/us-ex-cop-guilty-of-murder-8-year-old-son-slept-on-freezing-concrete/

Adam Barney Teen Killer Murders Mother

Adam Barney was fifteen years old when he murdered his mother in Texas. According to court documents Adam Barney would strike his mother repeatedly with a hammer before choking her in January 2021 at their McKinney Texas. This teen killer would be arrested soon after. Adam Barney would plead guilty to the murder of his mother Stacy Barney and would be sentenced to life in prison due to the brutality of the murder

Adam Barney 2022 Information

Adam Barney More News

A Collin County jury sentenced a 17-year-old to life in prison Thursday for bludgeoning his mother inside their McKinney home last year.

Adam Barney pleaded guilty to murder in the death of Stacy Barney. He was 15 when he hit his 50-year-old mother with a hammer and choked her Jan. 3, 2021. Testimony in his sentencing trial began Tuesday.

The jury deliberated for nearly three hours before reaching its decision, according to court records. Jurors weighed a sentence of five to 99 years in prison or life in prison

Home surveillance video captured the attack that lasted several minutes. The teen is seen going into the garage and retrieving a hammer and screwdriver, according to testimony at hearings last year over whether Barney would be tried as an adult. He then went into the living room, where Stacy Barney was sitting on the couch, and struck her repeatedly on the head with the hammer.

State District Judge Andrea Thompson only allowed portions of the video to be shown to the jury. At a hearing last week, defense attorney April Steele said the video is “so shocking” jurors “would not be able to entertain other evidence.”

Prosecutor Christina Skipper said the video shows Barney’s demeanor while carrying out the crime, overkill and premeditation.

Steele, Barney’s lawyer, said in a statement Thursday the “jury chose not to see past the severity of the conduct.”

“While respecting the decision of the jury, the defense team did our absolute best to humanize our client by presenting an extensive history of mental health challenges and sexual abuse suffered by a 15-year-old boy,” the statement said.

Testimony at the hearings last year revealed the boy had been in and out of residential treatment facilities and juvenile detention throughout his life. Barney reported that he was sexually abused during a stay in a rehabilitation center and alleged a former McKinney ISD educator performed sexual acts on him.

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/courts/2022/11/04/mckinney-teen-sentenced-to-life-in-prison-for-mothers-slaying/

Connor Crowe Teen Killer Murders Mother And Sister

Connor Crowe was a thirteen year old teen killer from West Virginia when he murdered his mother and sister. According to court documents Connor Crowe would open fire inside of the Weirton home killing his mother Melissa Rowland, 39, and his 15-year-old sister Madison. Connor Crowe would then run out of the home and attempted to blame the double murder on a stranger. Connor Crowe would be arrested and two years later would plead guilty to two counts of second degree murder. When he is sentenced later this year this teen killer faces between 20 to 80 years in prison however regardless of the sentence he will be eligible for parole after 15 years due to his age

Connor Crowe 2022 Information

Connor Crowe More News

A West Virginia teenager has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the shootings of his mother and sister. More than two years later, prosecutors said they still don’t know why he did it.

Connor Crowe entered the plea Tuesday in Hancock County Circuit Court, where he waived his right to be tried in juvenile court or by a jury, The Weirton Daily Times reported.

Crowe was 13 in September 2020 when he killed his mother, Melissa Rowland, 39, and his 15-year-old sister Madison, and then ran out of the home, blaming the shootings on a stranger.

Prosecuting Attorney Steven Dragisich said gunshot residue was found on the youth and there was no evidence anyone had forced their way into the home or fled from it.

The prosecutor said he would seek the maximum 40-year sentence for each offense.

“I’m cognizant of the fact he was 13 years of age, but my job and my duty as the prosecutor of this county is to protect the public and hold people accountable for their actions,” Dragisich said afterward.

He told WTOV that no motive for the shootings has been given — “no terrific explanation, and I don’t think we’ll really understand why.”

Because Crowe was under 18 when the crime was committed, he could be eligible for parole after 15 years, the judge said.

https://wchstv.com/news/local/west-virginia-teen-pleads-guilty-to-killing-mother-sister

Connor Crowe Other News

A West Virginia teenager has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the shootings of his mother and sister. More than two years later, prosecutors said they still don’t know why he did it.

Connor Crowe entered the plea Tuesday in Hancock County Circuit Court, where he waived his right to be tried in juvenile court or by a jury, The Weirton Daily Times reported.

Crowe was 13 in September 2020 when he killed his mother, Melissa Rowland, 39, and his 15-year-old sister Madison, and then ran out of the home, blaming the shootings on a stranger.

Prosecuting Attorney Steven Dragisich said gunshot residue was found on the youth and there was no evidence anyone had forced their way into the home or fled from it.

The prosecutor said he would seek the maximum 40-year sentence for each offense.

He told WTOV that no motive for the shootings has been given — “no terrific explanation, and I don’t think we’ll really understand why.”

Because Crowe was under 18 when the crime was committed, he could be eligible for parole after 15 years, the judge said.

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/article/West-Virginia-teen-pleads-guilty-to-killing-17555636.php

Donald Mars Charged In 1966 Murder

Donald Mars a convicted sex offender has been charged in the murder of a ten year old girl that took place in 1966. According to police reports Betty Lou Zukowski would leave her home shortly after receiving a phone call. Betty Lou Zukowski body would be found days later and the little girl had been beaten to death. Even though Donald Mars was considered to be a suspect way back in 1977 he was not arrested due to lack of evidence. Donald Mars was Mars was convicted of child rape and assault and battery on a child under 14 in 1995.

Donald Mars More News

A 73-year-old convicted sex offender has been charged in connection with the 1966 disappearance and death of a 10-year-old Massachusetts girl, a prosecutor said Thursday.

Donald Mars was arraigned on a charge of first-degree murder in the death of Betty Lou Zukowski, who left her Chicopee home on the evening of May 26, 1966 and was found beaten to death several days later in the Westfield River in West Springfield, prosecutors said in Hampden Superior Court in Springfield.

A not guilty plea was entered on Mars’ behalf.

His attorney did not object to his client being held without bail, but retained the right to seek bail at a later date. An email seeking comment was left with the defense.

“While this investigation will not bring Betty Lou back to her family, or grant her the opportunity to grow into a healthy adult that she and every child deserves, it is for them and for Betty Lou that we embark upon this journey of seeking justice,” Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni said at a news conference after the arraignment.

Betty’s Lou’s parents, Stanley and Mildred, have died but authorities have been in touch with surviving members of her family, he said.

The victim left her family’s Chicopee home after taking a phone call from what she told her parents was a girlfriend, Gulluni said. Her parents reported her missing later that night.

Her “beaten and mud-covered 4-foot-7 inch (1.4-meter), 75-pound (34-kilogram) body was found just offshore by boys fishing in the Westfield River in the town of West Springfield,” he said.

“The cause of the death was determined by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to be multiple blunt force injuries to her head, a skull fracture and terminal drowning,” he said.

Because she left her home voluntarily, investigators believe she knew her attacker.

She was laid to rest on June 2, 1966, which would have been her 11th birthday, he said.

Mars, who would have been a teenager at the time of Betty Lou’s death, was linked to the killing as long ago as 1997 but was not arrested, Gulluni said. Gulluni’s cold case unit refocused on the case in the last few months, he said, although he did not disclose what evidence led to Mars.

According to the state sex offender registry, Mars was convicted of child rape and assault and battery on a child under 14 in 1995. He is listed as a Level 3 sex offender, considered the most likely to reoffend. His most recent address was in Bedford.

Donald Mars attended the arraignment via video, and although he did not say anything, he shook his head several times as the prosecution read a list of past criminal cases he has been involved in.

Abelle Ruiz Teen Killer Murders Girl Over Argument

Abelle Ruiz was fourteen years old when an argument between his girlfriend and two sisters would leave one of the teenagers dead. According to court documents Abelle Ruiz’s girlfriend was involved in an argument with two sisters. When Abelle Ruiz walked away from the situation he would open fire striking both sisters killing Aanya Ruiz, 16, and injuring her older sister. Abelle Ruiz would be arrested and later convicted of the murder. This teen killer would be sentenced to 25 to 50 years in prison

Abelle Ruiz More News

A Reading teen who fatally shot a teenage girl and wounded her sister in the city has been sentenced to 25 to 50 years in a state prison.

Abelle Ruiz, now 16, of the 400 block of McClellan Street, pleaded guilty Thursday to the third-degree murder of Aanya Ruiz, 16, and the attempted murder of her sister Aashyia Cook, 17, on Feb. 5, 2021.

The shooting occurred just days before he turned 15.

Abelle Ruiz was sentenced Thursday by Berks County President Judge Thomas G. Parisi.

District Attorney John T. Adams has said it’s the first time in his 15 years in office that the county has charged someone as young as 14 with homicide.

The shooting occurred in Oakbrook Homes after an argument between the victims and the defendant’s girlfriend, police said. Abelle Ruiz fired into the air, then shot at the sisters as they were running away, investigators said.

Aanya was shot in the back, and Aashyiah was shot in a leg, they said.

The Ruizes were not related.

According to investigators:

Abelle Ruiz left his home with his girlfriend and they encountered the sisters in the 1000 block of Scott Street near McClellan about 10:45 p.m.

A physical altercation ensued between his girlfriend and two sisters. The girlfriend she had ongoing issues with the 16-year-old sister over an unrelated homicide investigation.

The dispute intensified into a physical fight when she encountered them again on McClellan Street.

After the fight, she and Abelle walked away and went through a gate that leads to the rear yards of homes in the 400 block of McClellan.

Abelle told investigators that he overheard the sisters discussing with someone on a cellphone plans to have other individuals shoot him and his girlfriend.

He said that once in the yard he pulled out a 9 mm pistol and fired shots toward the sisters.

Aanya Ruiz was unconscious when police and medics arrived. Her sister was struck in the left leg.

Both were transported by ambulance to Reading Hospital, where the 16-year-old was pronounced dead a short time later.

Abelle Ruiz was arrested the next day and has been in custody since.

Reading teen sentenced to 25 to 50 years in prison for killing girl, wounding her sister