The father of an 8-year-old autistic boy who died in a freezing New York garage gave a heartless reaction to the pronouncement of the boy's death, telling people he had “been through more stressful things than this,” a prosecutor revealed Thursday. During the Thursday arraignment of Michael Valva and his live-in girlfriend, Angela Pollina, Suffolk County prosecutor Kerriann Kelly also told the court that Valva called 8-year-old Thomas a “piece of shit” two days before his death. “I have zero clothing for him,” 40-year-old Valva allegedly wrote in a text. “Fuck a piece of shit Thomas. He’s not going anywhere.”

Both Valva and Pollina are facing murder charges in Thomas’ Jan. 17 death. The boy's body temperature dropped to 76 degrees the night he died, after years of alleged abuse. Kelly said Valva and Pollina tried to delete home video footage before police came to their home after the boy's death, as one of the videos showed Valva beating one of his two kids “with a closed fist while screaming at him.” Both of them will be held without bail before their Feb. 24 court date.