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

MUSKEGON, Mich. (WOOD) — A Norton Shores woman will spend the rest of her life in prison for starving her 15-year-old son to death.

A judge on Tuesday sentenced Shanda Vander Ark to life in prison without the possibility of parole, Michigan’s mandatory sentence for first-degree murder, for the death of Timothy Ferguson.

“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.”

Jury finds woman guilty of starving teen son to death

Vander Ark was also sentenced to 50 to 100 years in prison for first-degree child abuse, with credit for 575 days served. Kacel exceeded sentencing guidelines for child abuse, saying doing so was justified because of Timothy’s “long-term suffering.”

“I don’t think they (the guidelines) would take into consideration the amount of absolute, systematic, consistent torture that you engaged in here,” Kacel said.

The judge said he didn’t want to take away Timothy’s dignity. Instead, he displayed a photo of Timothy looking happy.

“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.”

Vander Ark declined to speak.

In December, she was found guilty of murder and first-degree child abuse.

Her son Timothy, who prosecutors say had “some sort of incapacity or mental incapacity,” was found dead at the family’s Norton Shores home in July 2022. He weighed just 69 pounds — at sentencing, the judge compared his appearance to that of “a Holocaust victim.” An autopsy determined he died from dehydration and extreme emaciation due to malnutrition and starvation. The medical examiner ruled his death a homicide.

‘Appalling’: Mother ordered to trial in starvation death of teen son

Vander Ark denied her son food, fed him only bread or bread soaked in hot sauce, poured hot sauce down his throat and placed him in an ice bath the day before his death, prosecutors previously said in court.

At sentencing, one of Timothy’s sisters gave a victim impact statement.

“I like to say I don’t regret things in my life, that every mistake I’ve made has made me who I am today. But when Timothy died, I couldn’t stop regretting. I regret not hugging him more and teasing him so much instead of telling him that I loved him every once in a while. I regret not putting aside my differences with Shanda and Paul (Timothy’s brother) just to check in on him,” she said. “…There’s no fixing what’s been done, no way to redo it all over again. And that’s my regret: that I couldn’t protect him when he needed me most.”

She continued to say she wanted Vander Ark to receive “the highest punishment possible.”

“I want her detained for the rest of her life so she can’t hurt anyone else,” Timothy’s sister said. “And I want the world to know that Timothy was wanted — if not by her, then by me. He was loved by me.”

Timothy’s oldest brother also gave a victim impact statement on Tuesday.

“I’ve had to leave my career behind,” he said. “My wife has to watch helplessly as I struggle day in and day out, wondering how none of us knew what was going on, wondering if I told Tim-Tim I loved him enough times for him to remember up until the very end.”

He asked the court to impose the maximum sentence.

“If I can’t have my brother back, (Vander Ark) shouldn’t have her freedom back,” he said. “And lastly, I want everyone to know that to those who knew him, even that wouldn’t feel like justice. Because the life of one sweet little blue-eyed boy is not equivalent to that of a murderer.”

Paul Ferguson, another brother of Timothy, was also charged with first-degree child abuse in the case. He pleaded guilty in December 2023 and is expected to be sentenced in late February. First-degree child abuse is punishable by up to life in prison.

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