Shanda Vander Ark gets life in prison for torturing disabled son to death
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The Michigan mother who starved her disabled teenager to death was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole — with a judge ripping into her for the “systemic torture” of the young boy.
Shanda Vander Ark, 44, was found guilty last month in the death of 15-year-old Timothy Ferguson, who weighed just 69 pounds when he was found dead in July 2022 in the glorified closet she forced him to sleep in, wrapped only in a tarp.
“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.
“You intentionally and systematically tortured this child. Let’s call it what it is: It’s torture. You tortured this child … This wasn’t punishment. You weren’t trying to curb his behavior. You tortured him.”
Vander Ark was also sentenced to an additional 50 to 100 years in prison for first-degree child abuse, a punishment that exceeded sentencing guidelines but that Kacel said was justified by Timothy’s “long-term suffering.”
The teen died from malnourishment and hypothermia after suffering months of cruel abuse at his mother’s hands, as well as his older brother, Paul Ferguson, who claims he was operating under Vander Ark’s instruction.
Timothy, who had some mental disabilities and was being homeschooled, was routinely fed hot sauce, restrained with shackles and zip ties and deprived of sleep.
Vander Ark also instructed 20-year-old Paul Ferguson — who faces one count of first-degree child abuse for his alleged role in the crime — to taunt his younger brother with frozen pizza rolls and to pour hot sauce on his sibling’s genitals.
Ice baths were one of the teenager’s regular abuses: Paul Ferguson testified that he left Timothy in a freezing tub for four hours just before the boy’s death. Paul Ferguson said he did so only because Van Ark said to.
Pictures of Timothy Ferguson’s lifeless body shown in court revealed bruises and his ribs nearly visible through his skin — the sight of which sent Vander Ark into a vomiting fit during her final testimony on the stand.
Kacel, saying he didn’t want to take away Timothy’s dignity, displayed a photo of the smiling boy atop the bench.
“I’m choosing to remember him like that. And you can’t even look at him,” Kacel said, addressing Vander Ark.
“That’s how he was: a beautiful child with a lot of life in his eyes. That’s who your son was, and you took that from him … We know who you are. That’s the way that I’m going to honor him. You don’t win because justice — thank God in this case — prevailed.”
The murderous mother, wearing orange jail togs and her hair in two thin braids, declined to speak when given the chance, instead shaking her head to indicate “No.”
Vander Ark’s attorney, Fred Johnson, said his client brought Timothy into her home while working as a single mother 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,” Johnson said. “We’re not looking at evil, we’re looking at sick.”
Paul Ferguson pleaded guilty to first-degree child abuse in December and is expected to be sentenced in late February.
With Post wires
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