Posted on 12/16/2023 11:25:42 PM PST by Morgana
A Michigan law clerk vomited in court after she was showed horrifying pictures of her emaciated disabled son who she starved to death.
Shanda Vander Ark, 44, was on trial for the murder and torture of Timothy Ferguson, 15, who died at their home on July 6, 2022 weighing just 69 pounds. An autopsy found he died from malnourishment and hypothermia.
Prosecutor Matt Roberts showed pictures of the teenager's frail body to Vander Ark in court on Thursday afternoon and she began to throw up.
She tortured Timothy, who had autism with speech and motor impairment, by feeding him only bread covered in hot sauce, deprived him of sleep and forced him into ice baths as punishment.
Vander Ark did not turn up to the trial on Friday due to a 'medical issue' but a jury found her guilty of first degree murder and first degree child abuse in her absence. She is due to be sentenced on January 29 and faces life in prison.
Vander Ark took the witness stand on Thursday and began hyperventilating and showing signs of a mental breakdown.
Prosecutor Roberts handed her pictures of Timothy's emaciated body and asked: 'Did he look like that when you put him the bathtub?
She immediately began retching, before vomiting out of view of the jury. She then apologized to court, asked for a moment and started to cry.
The next day, Vander Ark, who has five biological children including a nine-year-old boy, was found guilty of torturing and murdering Timothy.
Timothy's older brother Paul, 20, has also been charged with first degree child abuse, but testified against their mother in court.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
This trial is on YouTube. I tried to watch it, but I couldn’t. She’s claiming she remembers nothing.
Is she the only parent?
The death penalty is applicable in this case.
I would pull the switch.
Judge: One more outburst like that and I’m clearing the courtroom!
If she’d late-term-aborted her disabled son, Michigan would be giving her a medal.
This monster was a LAW CLERK? In whose office?
Huh?? Did you actually read that somewhere or are you just trying out for "Free Republics's Most Inane and Unfunny Comment of the Year Award"?
Like most things today the article is a bit garbled, but they say she worked at the Newaygo County [Michigan] Circuit Court.
Very sad.
I don’t believe her.
I’m not 100% opposed to capital punishment. I think it should be used only for the most heinous killers like Timothy McVeigh and Janet Reno. But it certainly has a place for this monster.
She is an evil sadistic demon and belongs in hell.
Bread soaked in hot sauce and ice baths seems like an appropriate punishment... Slow painful death for this bxtch over a month or so.
SPJNK.
What an appropriate name; “Shanda” means “disgrace” in Yiddish.
Run God out of your country and guess who shows up.
What do those letters mean?
You have FR Mail...
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