Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney today announced that Major Crime Bureau Chief Kerriann Kelly was awarded the 2024 Prosecutor of the Year Award for Trial Advocacy at the District Attorneys Association of New York’s (DAASNY) annual summer conference held in Bolton Landing on June 29, 2024.
“Kerriann Kelly rightfully deserves this special recognition for her superior performance prosecuting Michael Valva and Angela Pollina for the 2020 murder of eight-year-old Thomas Valva,” said District Attorney Tierney. “Apart from being a force to be reckoned with in the courtroom, Kerriann is the epitome of a veteran prosecutor, having served the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office for 36 years, conducted dozens of felony trials, and graciously mentored generations of young prosecutors under her leadership. There is no doubt that her accomplishments here in Suffolk County have, and will continue to have, a lasting impact on the larger legal community of New York.”
Assistant District Attorney (ADA) Kelly joined the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office in 1988. She is a graduate of Boston College and the Oklahoma City University School of Law. After law school, ADA Kelly worked for the Suffolk County Attorney’s Office as a Deputy County Attorney for two years before transferring to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.
She served in multiple bureaus including District Court, Appeals, White Collar Crime, Narcotics, Major Crime, and Homicide. Before District Attorney Tierney promoted her to Chief of the Major Crime Bureau in 2022, ADA Kelly also served as Chief of the Special Investigations Bureau, the Homicide Bureau, and the Felony Offense Bureau, where she supervised teams of prosecutors and oversaw hundreds of trials.
During her career, ADA Kelly brought over 40 felony cases to verdict at trial, including over 20 homicide trials. Two such recent cases were those of the People v. Michael Valva and People v. Angela Pollina. In 2022 and 2023, ADA Kelly led the trial team prosecuting these defendants in separate, high-profile trials for the murder of Valva’s eight-year-old son. Thomas tragically died of hypothermia on the fridged morning of January 17, 2020, after he and his 10-year-old brother were forced by the defendants to sleep in an unheated garage in below-freezing temperatures.
As a direct result of the evidence produced at trial and subsequent guilty verdicts, District Attorney Tierney requested a Special Grand Jury be empaneled to investigate the conduct and practices of Suffolk Child Protective Services. Over the course of approximately six months, the Special Grand Jury heard testimony from 27 witnesses and examined 56 exhibits consisting of approximately 2000 pages of material. That Special Grand Jury issued a report containing factual findings and recommendations for legislative, executive, and administrative action to improve the efficacy of CPS and the safety of children in Suffolk County.
In addition to trial work and litigation training, ADA Kelly regularly lectures on behalf of the office on the topics of DNA, Grand Jury practice, jury selection, eyewitness identification, and video surveillance.
The DAASNY Prosecutor of the Year Award winners are selected from nominations made by district attorneys across New York State. The awards are given to prosecutors who have enhanced our criminal justice system in the courtroom and in the local community.