MI Woman Charged After Son Dies, Tortured With Ice Baths and More

A Muskegon County woman was charged this past week with the death of her 15-year-old son.

43-year-old Shanda Vander Ark of Norton shores was charged on Friday with murder and first-degree child abuse.

15-year-old Timothy Ferguson died on Wednesday after being severely malnourished and subjected to a number of ice baths. Those ice baths contributed to the passing of her son.

According to WDIV, the medical examiner determined that the boy died from a combination of malnourishment and hypothermia.

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This woman was an absolute monster. Aside from the ice baths, she was essentially starving her child. When he was lucky enough to eat, it was bread soaked in hot sauce. She would also torture the teen by pouring hot sauce down his throat.

Matt Roberts, deputy Muskegon County prosecutor:

The investigation subsequently revealed that Shanda Vander Ark had a number of punishments … that frankly were just beyond the pale in terms of what should be administered to a child. Most notably, the denial of food to the child, feeding the child nothing but bread and bread soaked in hot sauce and hot sauce poured down the child’s throat and placing the child in an ice bath.

She didn't take the murder charge very well as she cried out in court after the charges were announced.

You're probably asking the same question that I asked. Where was the father when all this torture was taking place? Apparently, he lives in Florida and was probably not involved all that much in the boy's life.

We can only hope that this woman spends the rest of her life behind bars.