MI - Shanda Vander Ark, charged with Murder and child abuse of son, 15, Norton Shores, 2023

[tlcya]

Shanda is on the stand..... basically its all Timothys fault. Cant believe she is taking the stand. But sure glad she is. Hope the jury asks some good questions.

darn, things were hectic this morning and I missed this morning. Arrived to find them on break.

 

[Dargon335]

MOO, but based on what I've read in MSM up to this point there is no excuse to treat a child, or anyone else, like this.

 

[Dargon335]

This is the second case in a week here on WS where a mother or guardian has allegedly locked a child in a room and mistreated them. Both cases resulted in the death of the child. Very sobering to realize that people can treat others in this manner.

Ice baths, denial of food led to teen’s death by mother’s hand, Muskegon prosecutor says

 

[mickey2942]

Shanda is on the stand..... basically its all Timothys fault. Cant believe she is taking the stand. But sure glad she is. Hope the jury asks some good questions.

My first question would be why her son was "homeschooled". He would have had a wealth of special services available to him at school. Therapists, transition planning, transportation, food, medical care.

So, that would be the first question. It would continue from there. I hope that the prosecution has a good understanding of special education services.

 

[Maat99]

Defense to Paul [as paraphrased and interpreted by me]: Shanda was a very busy professional and had a lot on her plate so basically this is all your fault. She cried and was frantic, therefore she cared.

This poor mom!
Who amongst us has not been so busy with work that we didn’t notice that our 15 year old child weighed 69 pounds and was starving to death?

Also, who amongst us has not had our parental rights terminated in Oklahoma for child abuse and then had that same child die from abuse in a different state - through no fault of our own?

Ice baths, denial of food led to teen’s death by mother’s hand, Muskegon prosecutor says

A Norton Shores woman is charged with murder and child abuse in the death of an “extremely malnourished” teen, according to a Muskegon County prosecutor.

www.mlive.com

 

[Dargon335]

Apparently not the first time she has been accused of child abuse.

Ice baths, denial of food led to teen’s death by mother’s hand, Muskegon prosecutor says

[...]
Vander Ark had previously been substantiated for child abuse and was to have her parental rights terminated in Oklahoma, except she agreed to vacate the home there and not have custody of her son, Roberts said.
[...]

 

[B4igo2it]

SVA is a piece of work; queen of manipulation in court and life. A loving parent protects their child ..... does not torture and kill. She claims she wanted to protect TF from foster care? Give me a break. IMO, isolation to hide and continue this sadistic behavior. Fred is biased. Poor Timothy, I hope he is with Jesus now.

 

[tlcya]

she conveniently doesn't remember many of the texts to Paul about making Timothy clean the garage and have him stand against the wall with no clothing on below the waist.

Timothy didn't react normally to pain or other stimuli, he was hypo sensitive per Sandra.

GOING THROUGH MORE OF THE TEXTS read into the record yesterday

He stole Paul's pop tarts so more "alarms" (which is apparently the same thing as motion sensors in Sandra's mind who uses them interchangeably) were to be installed.

wouldn't allow mother in law in the house so she hadn't seen Timothy in 6 months. They tracked MIL's phone so they would know when she was coming to their home to pick up little G so they could make sure grammy didn't get into the house. Paul had to get G ready to go and hustle him outside as she pulled up.

Directed Paul to make Timothy stand with his nose up against the interior of the front door because he was in trouble.

regarding the leg irons. Sandra was asked to read texts which refute her statement that Paul ordered those for himself and not for use on Timothy.

Sandra claims to not recall Paul sending her photos of a very thin Timothy and saying we probably need to feed him, it's no wonder he can barely stand. She said in the text in response to those pictures "I see" but now claims she was busy in court and doesn't remember seeing them.

The hot sauces were ordered online because Meier doesn't carry those brands. Sandra claims that Timothy LOVED hot sauce and it was hard to find ones he didn't like so it could be used as punishment. Claims it was Paul's idea to use hot sauce as a punishment but doesn't really the exact conversation or circumstances where it came up.

Paul said his dad and step mom had used wall sits as punishment on him when he was younger.

 

[tlcya]

March 27th 3:00 am text from Sandra to Paul "let him know if he tries to sleep at all, he'll get another ice bath sometime before you leave for work and another when I get home"

attorney: for the crime of sleeping?

Sandra: I don't know what it was about.

She just punished and punished and punished. Didn't even need a reason. Can't remember.

May 9th text exchange about monitoring Timothy's every move except for bathroom visits because he "stole" candy from an easter basket (good lord this awful woman)

 

[tlcya]

all her PTSD and blackouts have conveniently removed her memories about these texts and her decision making on why she felt Timothy needed treated as he was.

I hate her.

 

[tlcya]

Shandra claims around mothers' day that Timothy weighed 104 pounds. Her explanation for how Timothy had dropped to the alarming weight he died at in such a short time if she is telling the truth - He takes after her and loses weight very quickly.

 

[tlcya]

the reason they decided he shouldn't be allowed to sleep at night is because Timothy kept the whole household up and so it was to teach him a lesson about not letting people sleep at night.

just hours before he dies he was subjected to another bath. attorney shows her a photo of Timothy the day he died and she very dramatically pretends to barf into a waste basket while on the stand. The jury is ushered out as she fake sobs.

after a break for her to collect herself, state asks about her response to the photos since they have been shown previously in court. she says I saw them in prelim and they gagged me I just didn't throw up.

you don't recall thumbing through the autopsy photos last week and didn't gag did you? he claims hey didn't have those photos at her defense table.

Q: "hours before his death, when you put him in a "warm" bath, did he look like those three photos I just showed you?"
A: "I did not look at him sir. He was 15 I tried to give him his privacy. It may sound lame but I intentionally looked away. That is why Paul did most of his baths, because he is 15 and I didn't think that was appropriate"
Q: "So you didn't put him in the bathtub? Did you get him out of the tub?"
A: "I don't remember. I think so later that night. I would assume so."
Q: "Later that night?! How long was he in the tub?"
A: "Well ight to me is anytime after work, so . . . "
Q: "How long was he in the tub?"
A: "I don't think it was long after I got home but I don't know."

 

[tlcya]

Q: "Did it ever occur to you he was sneaky because he was hungry?!"

 

[tlcya]

In response to being told Timothy had eaten the crust off of a hamburger, she texted Paul to try to make him throw it up.

 

[cocomod]

I think it was mistake to have her testify. She is unfeeling, uncaring, educated, and just plain evil! How can someone claim to not "see" a child starving to death as she punishes him day after day again and again?! She makes Timothy Ferriter look like father of the year. IMO

 

[tlcya]

her text on June 29th, just days before his death "trust me - I know he's thin"

 

[tlcya]

She doesn't make for a good witness. I'm with you @cocomod, her decision to take the stand was a mistake. She come across as cold, unfeeling and clueless as to how she is being received.

redirect now, her attorney leads her with questions about how there was probably so much more that wasn't in those texts (implying if there were it would provide much needed context) whines about how she doesn't remember stuff because PTSD.

 

[BUF]

The jury is watching and hearing all of this. Should be a quick verdict imo.

 

[PineyPanorama]

I’ve been reading websleuths for years, but I think this is my first post.

This woman is a particularly monstrous abuser because to the outside world she appears to be an intelligent professional woman. I like how the prosecutor is just letting her talk. She’s digging her own grave with her selective memory and inconsistencies. She also seems to be blaming the victim a lot, talking about how sneaky he was. Poor kid was just trying to get food and stay alive. She seems to have no awareness that what she was doing was torture. No regret or remorse. Training Paul to be her henchman is another example of child abuse.

She seems to be someone who thinks they are brilliant and can talk their way out of anything—a personality type I’m very familiar with, unfortunately.

 

[mickey2942]

The real tragedy is that the prison she will go to will be far more humane than how she treated the victim.