Found dead in July 2022, 15-year-old Timothy Ferguson was 69 pounds
A Michigan woman was sentenced to life in prison for starving her disabled 15-year-old son to death, making him sleep in a locked closet, often zip-tied to limit movement.
A judge sentenced Shanda Vander Ark to life in prison without the possibility of parole on Jan. 23, 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 during the sentencing . “You intentionally and systematically tortured this child. Let’s call it what it is: It’s torture. You tortured this child.”
Vander Ark was also sentenced to 50 to 100 years in prison for first-degree child abuse, with credit for 575 days served.
Kacel noted that he exceeded the sentencing guidelines for child abuse because of the “absolute, systematic, consistent torture that you engaged in here.”