longisland

The trial of a former NYPD officer accused of killing his 8-year-old son resumed Monday with new testimony.

Thomas Valva's second-grade teacher Michelle Cagliano took the stand for the first time, as did Christine MacQarrie, who works with the school he attended and was employed by the Institute for Children With Autism.

Cagliano recalled Valva always looking "frail" and "hungry." One specific time, she said he did not eat all day and added there were incidents such as him eating crumbs off the floor and eating out of the garbage. Cagliano also noticed there were times Valva often came into class with bruises.

MacQarrie said in March 2019 she went to the Valva home for a parent training meeting. She told the court she gave tips on how to help Thomas and was excited that she would be able to help with the issue of bathroom accidents. 

Valva's father, Michael, emailed MacQarrie following that meeting to say her services were no longer needed. 

Valva, who was autistic, died in January 2020 after spending a night in an unheated garage last when the temperature outside dropped to just 19 degrees.

MORE: <a href="https://longisland.news12.com/family-shocked-and-saddened-by-death-of-8yearold-boy-in-center-moriches-41582748">Family 'shocked and saddened' by death of 8-year-old boy in Center Moriches</a> <a href="https://longisland.news12.com/mother-of-slain-8yearold-says-father-was-abusive-for-years-41609677">Mother of slain 8-year-old says father was abusive for years</a> <a href="https://longisland.news12.com/death-of-center-moriches-boy-leaves-question-about-process-of-reporting-child-abuse-allegations-41670539">Death of Center Moriches boy leaves question about process of reporting child abuse allegations </a><a href="https://longisland.news12.com/prosecutors-outline-house-of-horrors-abuse-that-led-to-thomas-valvas-death-41666545">Prosecutors outline ‘house of horrors’ abuse that led to Thomas Valva’s death</a> <a href="https://longisland.news12.com/da-father-fiancee-watched-8yearold-boy-die-in-freezing-garage-in-center-moriches-41607151">DA: Father, fiancée watched 8-year-old boy die in freezing garage in Center Moriches</a>

Long Island

LI | Weather

LIFORECAST

You know, I watched it for so many years and to be seeing and hosting it is a different level. So it looks like everyone else enjoyed their time as well. They did. So this wet weather will get out of here for a little bit. You can have some hot chocolate and dry off tonight after work. And then tomorrow we get a little bit of a break from the rain. Saturday will be your day to get out, do some decorating, do some shopping. Even on Sunday. If you are out, it will be wet. So just have that umbrella. We'll be talking about on and off rain for much of the day, especially the afternoon and evening. Look at your highs this weekend in the fifties. So it is going to be mild. Um So at least, I guess that's a good thing. If it's going to be raining, at least it won't be cold right now. We're in the forties. You see those fifties southwest, this mild air will be in place for the day tomorrow. A little break in the morning, we have some low clouds and fog to kick off the day. But the afternoon is not bad. I think we get a couple of bright spots in the clouds, seeing some sunshine here and there. It's a little bit unsettled but it's dry at night. Light rain is back Sunday morning. There's not much until the afternoon and you see some heavier steadier rain will come through. It will be appearing kind of like today. Um, let's say between about two o'clock and eight tonight, 10 o'clock, most of that rainfall should get out of Suffolk County by 9 to 10 o'clock. Monday will be dry one more mild day and then we'll turn a little bit cooler as our winds will shift to the northwest. How much rainfall are we expecting? About a half an inch, maybe close to an inch in some spots? And that will be through Monday morning after that. The drier weather is back most of next week looks nice with mostly sunny skies and temperatures in the forties.

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Teacher in testimony recalls Thomas Valva looking ‘frail’ and bruised in class

ValvaTrialResumes

The trial of former NYPD officer accused of killing his eight year old son picked back up again today with more of the boys teachers taking the stand, we want to get right to news 12's crime reporter Kristen McNally who has been following this case and has the latest. That's right today. We heard from thomas's 2nd and 3rd grade teachers. Now if you'll remember those are the teachers that would have been teaching him just before thomas had died. He died that january in his third grade year. Now, both of the teachers said basically the same thing that thomas was frail, always hungry. There was often times when he was bruised and both of them said when you hugged him, you could feel his bones. Alright now Krista we know it's been a very emotional trial throughout and you've witnessed all of it. What was it like in the courtroom today? So today, another hard day in the courtroom. Many people crying as photos were shown. One of those photos was of thomas taken the day before he died. Now the teacher took this picture because they were doing a superhero project where all of the kids would have their photo put on a superhero character. But when you saw the photo, what you saw was thomas's cheeks and nose were red and his hands were beet red. I can't even describe do you how red they were almost looked like if you had been shoveling outside with no gloves on all day when that really red raw feeling. That's the best way I could describe what the little boy looked like in this photo and that was taken the day before he died. That teacher also described how in the week leading up to his death, thomas was very sickly and almost shuffling around and limping could barely even walk properly that week. That's quite a picture you're describing there. Crystal, what was the teacher's reaction to revisiting the times that they had little thomas in their classrooms. So both of the teachers did cry on the stand today. The second grade teacher was sobbing on the stand and actually had to take a break and leave the courtroom. She was crying because she spoke about how sickly thomas was and how thin and frail he was again when he came home from martin Luther king weekend. He told that teacher that on that monday he wasn't able to eat any food. He actually was taken out by Cps out of the auditorium to talk to them that day and he was absent the two days following this. She said that at the time, thank God, you know, she thought CPS had taken the boys and this was a year before thomas had died. So really a very emotional day in court today, as it has been throughout this trial, joe

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