Brother of boy, 15, who was tortured and starved to death admits role in abuse (original) (raw)

Paul Ferguson, 21, pleaded guilty to first-degree child abuse in connection with the harrowing death of his younger brother, who died of starvation. The 21 year old will be sentenced on January 29

Paul Ferguson pleaded guilty

The brother of a 15 year old boy who was brutally tortured and starved to death has admitted his part in the horrific abuse.

The guilty plea came from Paul Ferguson for first-degree child abuse connected to the terrible death of his little brother due to starvation. He is now facing life in prison when he's sentenced later this month. He confessed in court that he forced hot sauce down his younger sibling's throat, deprived him of food, and left him in baths of freezing cold ice water for hours.

His guilty plea came just two days after their mother, Shanda Vander Ark, was herself found guilty of murdering her disabled 15 year old son, Timothy. As the list of cruelties he and his mum inflicted on young Timothy was read out in court, he simply answered "yes". This included grim details like how they put Timothy's lifeless body in an ice bath as instructed by their cruel mother. Despite being 15 years of age, Timothy only stood at 68 inches tall and weighed a mere 69 pounds.

The boy was often handcuffed and made to sleep in a closet, as admitted by Ferguson. The court was shocked when his mum, Shanda Vander Ark, 44, became physically sick after seeing pictures of her son, who had autism with speech and motor impairment. The wicked mother only fed him bread covered in hot sauce, deprived him of sleep, and forced him into ice baths as punishment.

Shanda Vander Ark was found guilty in connection to her son's death (

Image:

Fox 17)

Vander Ark didn't show up at the trial on Friday due to a "medical issue", but she was found guilty of first degree murder and first degree child abuse in her absence. She's set to be sentenced on January 29 and could spend the rest of her life in prison. On Thursday, she took the stand and started hyperventilating and showing signs of a mental breakdown.

When Prosecutor Roberts showed her photos of Timothy's thin 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 the court, asked for a moment and started to cry.

Timothy's older brother Paul, 20, is also charged with first degree child abuse, but testified against their mother in court. He said: "I'd say it's something close to Stockholm Syndrome. I desire to find a role model that, due to my own low self-esteem, I would do anything to make them proud of me."

The texts between them show she even thought about putting hot sauce on the boy's private parts. He said: "I wonder how it would feel to have that hot sauce on your private parts. I'm not saying touch him there, not at all, but dripping a little bit there, is that horrible."

Vander Ark wasn't supposed to have Timothy, say the police. She had him since May 2021, but way back from 2009 to 2012, people said she shouldn't be his mom anymore. Timothy and his siblings were supposed to live with their dad, Eric Ferguson, after a court said so.

Vander Ark had to pay money for the kids. She got married again to a man named Adam and they lived together until he got really sick. She said her son started being naughty because of this. Right before Timothy passed away, Paul put him in a cold bath for almost nine hours. He told everyone in court that he was mean to his brother because his mom told him to.

* An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story.