Shanda Vander Ark Was Found Guilty of Torturing and Killing Her Own Son — Where Is His Father?
By Jennifer TisdaleJan. 24 2024, Published 6:26 p.m. ET
Content caution: This article mentions instances of extreme kid abuse.
While handing down his sentence to Shanda Vander Ark, Judge Matthew Kacel said to her, "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." He went on to clearly define this mom of four's actions: "You tortured this child." The kid in question was 15-year-old Timothy Ferguson, who died July 6, 2022, after suffering on the abusive hands of his mother, in step with CBS News.
According to WZZM-13, Vander Ark and her ex-husband divorced in January 2012. The couple were residing in Oklahoma at the time. Initially their four kids have been intended to be with him, so how did they finally end up with Vander Ark in Michigan? Here's what we know about Shanda Vander Ark's ex-husband.
Photo of Timothy Ferguson put on display by means of Judge Matthew Kacel throughout Shanda Vander Ark's sentencing
Shanda Vander Ark's ex-husband had custody of their four kids.
Court paperwork received by WZZM-Thirteen show that she used to be "embroiled in a divorce and custody battle with the father of four of Vander Ark’s children in Oklahoma." In truth, she voluntarily waived all parental rights and signed them over to her ex-husband, Eric Ferguson. Evidently she was once only allowed supervised visitation which consisted of spending 3 hours per month with Timothy and his three older siblings.
"Now, what happens between the time when that happens, and ultimately, how she and the children get here to Michigan is something that investigators are still kind of looking into," said Muskegon County Prosecutor DJ Hilson in a while after Vander Ark's arrest in 2022, in line with the opening. He went on to mention that investigators did talk with Eric after Timothy's death, however were in the process of putting in a proper interview.
During the second day of her trial, in November 2023, Vander Ark said all the way through her testimony that Ferguson had requested her to take Timothy as a result of Ferguson was once having a difficult time handling him, in line with WZZM 13.
What happened to Timothy Ferguson?
The New York Post reported that Timothy had some psychological disabilities and, as such, used to be homeschooled. It was once there he lived a horrendous lifestyles from January 2021 till his death in July 2022. When Timothy's body was once came upon he was significantly emaciated and malnourished, weighing best 69 pounds on the time, according to CBS News.
Paul Ferguson
The scientific examiner determined that his purpose of death was from the aforementioned malnourishment as well as hypothermia. Vander Ark wasn't alone in her merciless mistreatment of Timothy. Her 20-year-old son Paul Ferguson frequently did her bidding. Together they "subjected the boy to ice baths as punishment, restrained him with shackles and zip ties, and deprived him of food."
Texts proven in courtroom between Vander Ark and Paul display them planning tactics through which to "punish Timothy" as they put it, in step with FOX 17. In them Vander Ark is suggesting Paul drip hot sauce onto Timothy's genitals as she wonders how that might feel. In every other she instructs her son to feed Timothy two frozen pizza rolls if he can sit up and keep sitting up. When the prosecution asked about those texts, Vander Ark claimed she did not consider sending them.
Leading as much as his loss of life, Paul had positioned Timothy in an ice tub for nine hours. The surveillance cameras fixed all over the house had been in a position to catch the moment Timothy died while drowsing in the small closet referred to as his "bedroom." The scene was once described by way of Lt Joel Hoeksema during testimony. Vander Ark used to be noticed dragging him into the small room then protecting Timothy with a tarp she used as a blanket, calling him "pathetic." His eyes are open and unmoving. They consider that was once the remaining time he was once alive.
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