GUILTY | Jury convicts Shanda Vander Ark of torturing, killing son

Breaking news right now, a Norton Shores woman accused of abusing and killing her 15 year old son over a year ago has been found guilty. Shanda Vander refused to return to the stand today after answering questions from the prosecutor yesterday and even vomited after being shown photos of her son from hours before he died. Her defense attorney said Vander Ark waived her right to attend citing medical distress. 13, your sides. Jeremiah Brown has been in the courtroom all day and joins us now live with more JD. What can you tell us? Well, Elena, after an hour of deliberation, the jury had their verdict and found her guilty of first degree murder and first degree child abuse. Today, both the prosecution and the defense made their closing arguments to the jury. The prosecution reiterating just the extreme and unusual punishment. She subjugated Timothy Ferguson to including feeding him hot sauce on bread, starvation and even restraining his hands and legs with cuffs. The defense said that she was not aware of that the punishments would ultimately lead to his death. This morning. The prosecution showed a video to those in the court taken from a camera Van Der Ark had placed in the small room that that detectives say was really a small closet that Timothy was placed in. The video showed Vander Ark and her son finding Timothy who was unresponsive. 18 minutes passed before they called 911. Vander Ark can be heard telling her son Paul to help place him in another room and to make it look like he was found there, she is heard telling police that Timothy was on a hunger strike which yesterday Paul testified saying was a lie and make no mistake. He was a prisoner in that home. We give prisoners rights. Timothy had none of those because the person charged with his care and custody refuse them, kept him locked up in the basement of that home with motion sensors and alarms to make sure he didn't even go upstairs, let alone anywhere else. The prosecution also recounting statements from medical experts who noted that Timothy was £69 when he was found when the average 15 year old male weighs £132 saying that Timothy was desperate enough to eat frozen chicken nuggets and uncooked hamburger. They said he was also found with signs of hypothermia in July pointing to the ice bath. He was also subject to the defense appealed to the jury stating that text messages lack emotion and situational context and that yesterday ac read distorted images of past events. He also pointed to her personal circumstances to claim that she was not aware of how her actions would lead to his death. January 29th will be the date of her sentencing. According to the judge, he has also revoked, he has also revoked bond and said that she is required by law to be present for her sentencing and to listen to victim impact statements live in Muskegon County. I'm Jeremiah Brown 13 on your side.

Channel: 13 ON YOUR SIDE

Views: 57,587

Keywords: 13 ON YOUR SIDE, Norton Shores, Shanda Vander Ark, Timothy Ferguson, Vander Ark, guilty, jury, murder, torture, wzzm, wzzm13

Id: HH8StJuggzw

Length: 2min 55sec (175 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 15 2023