MI - Shanda Vander Ark, charged with Murder and child abuse of son, 15, Norton Shores, 2023

DNA Solves
DNA Solves
DNA Solves

New Posts

“I’ve been trying now for this entire case to wrap my mind around how somebody could do something so horrific, not only to another human being but to their own child,” Judge Matthew Kacel said in handing down the sentence. “…You intentionally and systematically tortured this child. Let’s call it what it is: It’s torture. You tortured this child.”

www.woodtv.com

‘Systematic torture’: Woman gets life for death of son

A Norton Shores woman will spend the rest of her life in prison for starving her 15-year-old son to death.
www.woodtv.com www.woodtv.com
 
www.wzzm13.com

How long is Shanda Vander Ark sentenced for?

Shanda Vander Ark has learned her sentence in the courtroom for torturing her 15-year-old son for months that ultimately led to his death.
www.wzzm13.com www.wzzm13.com

[...]
NORTON SHORES, Mich. — A Norton Shores mother has been found guilty of torturing and murdering her teenage son. Now she learns how many years she'll spend behind bars. Shanda Vander Ark is guilty of the 2022 murder of her 15-year-old son Timothy Ferguson, the jury determined in about an hour of deliberation on Dec. 15.

Vander Ark was convicted of open murder and first-degree child abuse. She did not appear in court on the day her verdict was read. While uncommon, the judge cited case law and said Vander Ark is not required to be present for her verdict. She was, however, in attendance of her sentencing Tuesday.

That's where she learned she's sentenced to life in prison without a chance of parole, plus 150 years on top of that.
[...]

[...]
Prosecuting attorney Matt Roberts said Vander Ark never looked over at her children while they read their statements.

"All of the things that she did... are so callous, are so cold that they just defy explanation," Roberts said. "She had stopped thinking of her children as human beings."

Vander Ark's attorney spoke to the court about welcoming Timothy into her home while working as a single mom who was putting herself through school and the difficulties that came with it. "This is a survivor. A person who pulled herself up by her bootstraps," said Fred Johnson. "We're not looking at evil, we're looking at sick."
[...]
 
www.wzzm13.com

How long is Shanda Vander Ark sentenced for?

Shanda Vander Ark has learned her sentence in the courtroom for torturing her 15-year-old son for months that ultimately led to his death.
www.wzzm13.com www.wzzm13.com

[...]
"People know what you are. People know what you did. Timothy won," said Judge Kacel. "You don't win. Because justice in this case prevailed."

Last month, Vander Ark took the stand herself and was questioned by the defense and prosecution for over three hours. During the questioning, Vander Ark claimed that she didn't remember a lot of the details of the days, weeks and months leading up to Timothy's death.

Throughout the trial, Vander Ark's attorney tried to present her client as a hardworking and educated mother who was doing her best as a parent but the chief prosecutor continually asked questions about how she would treat Timothy, especially in comparison to her other children.
[...]

[...]
It is alleged that Vander Ark's 20-year-old son, Paul Ferguson, participated in the abuse against Timothy. Paul took the stand and fielded questions about the abuse that he allegedly committed against his younger brother.

According to Paul, Timothy was forced to live in a small closet in their basement. A detective showed pictures of the closet to the court, indicating that the only objects in it were a blue tarp and an Amazon box. Police say the room had an overwhelming odor of urine and feces.

Paul testified that handcuffs and zip ties were used to restrict Timothy's movement, while cameras and motion sensors were used to monitor him, both in the closet and the bathroom. Shanda and Paul often discussed ways to keep him uncomfortable, like forcing him to stand facing a wall for hours at a time or doing wall sits.

Timothy was punished by being fed Carolina reaper hot sauce, either on pieces of bread or poured directly into his mouth, which Paul admitted to doing to his younger brother.

Paul said he occasionally placed Timothy in a bath tub of cold water, including the day before he died for more than nine hours. Texts reveal Timothy was also forced at times to run up and down stairs while Paul chased him.

All of this, Paul says, was per Shanda's orders, claiming low self esteem made him want to make his mom proud.
[...]
 
LadyL said:
I hope they both rot in prison. The 20 year-old's charges should be equal to his mother's IMO.
Click to expand...
while i 100% agree that Paul should get a hefty sentence, I genuinely believe that his mother manipulated and controlled him. He also has obvious neurological issues and seemed to think his mother was a saving grace so to speak from his already crappy life he had in Oklahoma with his father. He obviously never had a good role model and was also afraid of his mother. That's not to say that he couldn't have done more to help his brother, possibly sneak him a snack etc but he was also watched 24/7 by his mother to make sure he followed her demands. He didn't even have a bed to lay in
 
ConcernedVA said:
It really bothers me that the victim here is always referred to by the abusive family members as being disabled. From the testimony, we heard that he was verbal, mechanically inclined, and on grade level. The few interactions we had related sound normal to me (for the situation), such as telling the brother he soiled himself because he didn't want to disturb them. The foods he "stole" would make sense for a malnourished person to crave. He obviously could not cook them because he was sneaking to get them. The sneaking alone suggests he was trying to help himself in an advanced way.

I wonder if this boy was less functionally disabled than he is being represented by his family. The abusive brother has autistic mannerisms himself. If he is also on the spectrum, it may have made it easier for their mother to manipulate him.

Where is the dad? Shouldn't he be responsible in some way for giving the victim back to this woman? How badly were the boys treated at the dad and stepmom's house? I do those wall sits in an exercise class regularly and they are no joke. I can't do it for more than 30 seconds and I'm in good shape.

This woman must have hated this boy. That makes me so sad.
Click to expand...
some great questions. I have recently came across this case and have delved in feet first. The information that I have stumbled across on YouTube from family/teachers/professionals indicate that Timothy, while having both and ASD and ADHD diagnosis, they have unanimously state that he was intellectually able and didnt need very much support but he did seem to crave attention (any wonder). In these statements they also give information about both Paul and Timothy's hygiene but all said they never witnessed any sign of physical abuse. All said that the biys would wear very dirty clothes and that Timothy used to shower at the school a few times a week and the teaching staff would launder his clothes for him. a teacher used to also put food into Timothy and his sister Millie's school bags on a Friday so they had soething for over the weekend, but also stated Timothy was always of a healthy weight. It was also reported that the children were locked in their room for most of the day and just seemed to be a burden to their fatherEric and his wife Trish. It would seem from the evidence the only thing their father did that their mother didn't was feed them. Help was offered to their father and his wife when the boys lived in Oklahoma with them and they repeatedly refused. Paul was also accused of SA on Timothy and he wasn't lkegally allowed to be near him. Shanda also had lost custody AND parental rights to all of her children (accused of SA and showing minors *advertiser censored*) so Timothy should never have been in her company never mind her care. More than just Paul and Shanda should be brought in front of the justice system due to what happened to Timothy.
 
AmandaSkis said:
Where was her current husband during all of this?
Click to expand...
Adam had a stroke in January of 2022 and was living with his mother and father because he couldn't manage the stairs to get into his home with Shanda. His mother used to call to collect G for visits with his dad and she was never allowed into the home. Shanda even had her mother-in-law's phone put onto their family plan so she could use the "find my iphone" app to check her mother-in-law's movements and warn Paul how far away she was from the house so he could wait outside with G.
 
CeeMac said:
while i 100% agree that Paul should get a hefty sentence, I genuinely believe that his mother manipulated and controlled him. He also has obvious neurological issues and seemed to think his mother was a saving grace so to speak from his already crappy life he had in Oklahoma with his father. He obviously never had a good role model and was also afraid of his mother. That's not to say that he couldn't have done more to help his brother, possibly sneak him a snack etc but he was also watched 24/7 by his mother to make sure he followed her demands. He didn't even have a bed to lay in
Click to expand...
I have a different take. I do believe he’s on the spectrum. I also believe he was manipulated by his mom. But IMO he not only participated in the cruelty, he came up with some of the stuff on his own, and I believe he enjoyed it.
He learned from his mother. But I think it became part of his personality. He battered Timothy when Timothy was already dying. It wasn’t that he could have done more to “help” Timothy - he did nothing at all - it was that he could have done less to kill him.
Paul battered him. Forced hot sauce down his throat. Have him repeated ice baths. Forced him to stay up without sleep for hours. Forced him to do wall sits for hours.

He joined with his mother in mocking his suffering brother. He slapped him in the head while he was dying to see if he was “faking”.

Importantly, he lied and covered up what really happened, both to save himself and his precious mother. And he whined in the same exact tone his mother used when she fake cried her way through the first response to Timothy’s death.

Have you guys seen his interrogation video? I haven’t seen it posted here yet. It was infuriating, but at the end, the way the detective went at him was so gratifying to see and so brilliant. That detective is absolutely amazing. He knew he had to get Paul to turn on his mother, and so he battered him over the head with the reality of what had happened and confronted and questioned him on, every bit of illogical nonsense that he and his mother had concocted. I loved it.

 
Dargon335 said:
Ice baths, denial of food led to teen’s death by mother’s hand, Muskegon prosecutor says

[...]
..she worked as a law clerk for Newaygo County Circuit Court and had graduated from law school, passed the bar exam but never was officially sworn in as an attorney.
[...]

So what we have is a seemingly intelligent person, who graduated law school and was working professionally as a law clerk, claiming she is unable to remember many of the facts and text messages presented by the prosecution.

MOO, but I'm not buying any of that. If her memory was as bad as she claims, then logically there's no way she could have graduated law school and be working in the court system. Again, MOO.
Click to expand...
Agreed. She has no “memory holes“ when she’s working in her professional capacity.

I think it’s clear that the defense strategy was to imply she had mental issues but never actually attempt to prove them. She was so glib with her “i don’t remember.”
 
It's so mindblowing how these obvs intelligent, articulate people let themselves turn so evil against this poor boy ... & all the calculating & effort that went into it?? How did they not catch themselves in the act at least & want to stop? It's like they were blind or something....... but they're not! Just do not understand
IMO
 
Its also so weird & off how they talk about the victim ... like he was 'put in an ice bath' for 2-3 hours by his brother... would he just sit there all that time, doing & saying nothing, not trying to warm the water up or get out even tho he was mostly alone in there??

They make him sound like an infant or like he was physically disabled & mute ... but before he came to live with them, he was going to normal public school!

I dont get AT ALL how this all happened... how these intelligent people who were functional enough to finish school & have jobs got involved in this deranged torture campaign against an apparently helpless 15-yo boy who just went along with it.... just does not compute. If I try to imagine it the perps are blind & the victim is mute... ?!?
JMO
 
mickey2942 said:
This reminds of the "mother" of Taylor Rose, starved, abused, neglected her, all while going to her job everyday in the military, pretending to be "normal". Passing a military subsidized daycare on her way to work.

Who can even figure out these people who pretend to be normal? While being monsters to innocent children.
Click to expand...
Or little Tiffany Wright, who was locked up and systematically starved by her mother who spent her days and nights partying in the bar downstairs. Pure, unexplainable evil.
 
This case is so horrifying. But very similar to the case of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes, the little Birmingham UK boy who was tortured and murdered by his father and his father's girlfriend during Covid lockdown. Starved, beaten, food poisoned with salt instead of hot sauce, forced to sleep on the floor and watch other family members eat. Cameras following his every move. The two killers egged each other on via non-stop texts.
One of the saddest things I've ever heard in my life are his stepmother's recordings of that little boy begging for food and water and crying out for help from an uncle who could not hear him.

As hard as it is to believe that one individual could be so depraved as to do this to a child, it's that much harder to understand how TWO people could work together to do such things.
 
HarmonyE. said:
This case is so horrifying. But very similar to the case of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes, the little Birmingham UK boy who was tortured and murdered by his father and his father's girlfriend during Covid lockdown. Starved, beaten, food poisoned with salt instead of hot sauce, forced to sleep on the floor and watch other family members eat. Cameras following his every move. The two killers egged each other on via non-stop texts.
One of the saddest things I've ever heard in my life are his stepmother's recordings of that little boy begging for food and water and crying out for help from an uncle who could not hear him.

As hard as it is to believe that one individual could be so depraved as to do this to a child, it's that much harder to understand how TWO people could work together to do such things.
Click to expand...
That's unbelievable, what they did to that poor boy. The girlfriend who delivered the fatal blow got life in prison with a minimum of 29 years. The father got 21 years which upon review was upped to 24.
What further shocked me was Arthur's mother killed her partner in 2019 and recently got a long prison sentence. What a violent, disturbing family background. Child protection also dropped the ball and should have been much more involved.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

DNASolves

Who is DeKalb County John Doe (2022)?

Members online

... and 119 more.
Total: 2,514 (members: 120, guests: 2,394)

Online statistics

Members online
120
Guests online
2,394
Total visitors
2,514
Totals may include hidden visitors.

Forum statistics

Threads
602,236
Messages
18,137,306
Members
231,279
Latest member
skoorboh54
Back
Top