Timothy Ferguson's mom Shanda Vander Ark LOST custody of 15 year-old 13 YEARS before starving him to death - but managed to take youngster back and torture him with older son

An autistic boy who was tortured and starved to death by his sadistic mother and brother should never have been in his mom's custody. 

Timothy Ferguson, 15, died in July 2022 after years of unimaginable cruelty. 

His mother, Shanda Vander Ark, and older brother Paul, fed him bread soaked in hot sauce and forced him to sleep in a closet. When he finally succumbed to his injuries, he weighed just 69lbs. 

His brother Paul gasped and retched in shock this week as he was sentenced for his role. 

'You are one step away from becoming a psychopath,' the judge in his case warned.

Shanda vomited on the stand during her trial after being confronted with the grim images of her son's emaciated body. 

The pair should never have been entrusted with his care. Thirteen years earlier, Shanda was hit with a slew of child abuse charges. 

Timothy was given to his father by Oklahoma officials as a result. 

How he then ended up living with his evil mother and brother in a different state remains unclear. 

Timothy Ferguson, 15, who had autism with speech and motor impairment, died from malnourishment and hypothermia in July 2022 despite his mother losing custody  

Timothy (left) was subjected to cruel punishments including ice baths, starvation and being force fed hot sauce by his brother Paul (right) and mother 

The mother of the brothers, Shanda Vander Ark, 44, (pictured) was sentenced in January to life in prison without a chance of parole after a jury convicted her of murder and child abuse in the teen's death

According to MLive, Oklahoma Child Protective Services investigated Vander Ark for abuse allegations made between 2009 and 2012, and the authority recommended her parental rights be terminated. 

However, it appears her parental rights were never terminated.

Instead, she entered into an agreement with her ex-husband in 2012 to move from the state and cease access to the children, Muskegon County Chief Trial Prosecutor Matt Roberts told the outlet. 

'It was never envisioned that she would get her kids back either,' Roberts added.  

It was also reported that she was allowed supervised visitation with the children for just three hours per month, according to WZZM13. 

'Now, what happens between the time when that happens, and ultimately, how she and the children get here to Michigan is something that investigators are still kind of looking into,' Muskegon County Prosecutor DJ Hilson said after her arrest.

Prosecutors also stressed during Shanda's trial that she would never have had custody of Timothy.

Shanda reportedly moved to North Shores, Michigan in May 2021, with Paul, Timothy and their youngest brother in tow.

Eric Ferguson did not immediately respond to efforts to contact him for comment on this story.  

Vander Ark is said to have covered the house and the tiny closet Timothy was sleeping in with motion sensors, alarms, and live feed cameras

Vander Ark tortured him by feeding him only bread covered in hot sauce, deprived him of sleep and forced him into ice baths as punishment

The fridge was often locked shut in their home as Timothy starved to death, weighing just 69 pounds when he died 

Paul, 21, pleaded guilty to tormenting and starving his autistic younger brother, and physically retched as he was sentenced to up to 100 years in prison on Monday 

At Shanda's trial in January, prosecutors shared chilling text exchanges between the two that offered a glimpse inside their house of horrors in the days leading up to Timothy's death. 

In one exchange from the days before, Paul detailed taunting his younger brother with a frozen pizza roll as he struggled to stay coherent.

Shanda told Paul to take the pizza roll away if Timothy tried to eat it, but to reward him with the treat if he could sit up by himself and remain sitting upright. 

Paul then subjected his younger brother to a grueling nine-hour ice bath, and a coroner's report later found his cause of death was hypothermia, as well as malnourishment as he was starved down to just 69 pounds. 

As Timothy shook and clung on for life, the surveillance cameras reportedly captured their callous reaction as Vander Ark dragged him back into his small closet 'bedroom', screaming at him that he was 'pathetic.' 

He was covered with just a tarp for a blanket, and his eyes were seen as open but unmoving, which prosecutors believe was the last time he was alive, per Distractify. 

Timothy's autism, which also included speech and movement issues, were blamed by the mother's attorneys for her heinous treatment of him, such as locking him away in a tiny closet 'bedroom' if he kept her up at night. 

To punish him keeping her awake at night, she would force Timothy to remain awake for days on end, with one text showing her ordering Paul to 'dump some cold water on him' to keep Timothy from falling asleep. 

She also fitted motion sensors and surveillance cameras around their home to keep him restrained, and if he moved would punish her son in a number of cruel ways, including dousing him in hot sauce. 

When she took the stand in her own defense, Shanda vomited in front of the jury as she was shown horrifying images of her son's emaciation. 

The brothers' mother Shanda Vander Ark, 44, vomited in court after she was showed horrifying pictures of her emaciated disabled son who she starved to death in January 

She began retching and vomited in full view of the jury, showing signs of a mental breakdown as a prosecutor questioned her: 'Did he look like that when you put him the bathtub?'

Vander Ark, who was a law clerk at Newaygo County Circuit Court, claimed in her testimony she had purchased the spicy hot sauce online after Paul thought it would be a good idea to punish Timothy.

A text message exchange between the pair also showed her questioning whether they should drop the hot sauce on the young boy's genitals.

'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,' she asked.

Her attempts to claim Paul was complicit in planning the torture was combatted in his counter-testimony, as he spoke against his own mother at her trial. 

Paul's testimony and guilty plea came in exchange for prosecutors agreeing not to seek elevated charges, such as murder, for the 21-year-old, according to Chief Trial Attorney for Muskegon County Matt Roberts. 

He claimed he was also a victim and was suffering '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,' he said.

The property where Timothy was starved and tortured 

Her insisted he regrets his actions, pleading for 'mercy and fairness' from the judge.

In his statement at trial, Paul said: 'What reasons could justify my actions? I could make up a thousand and never believe one.'

'What words could voice my regrets? I could think of millions, yet never feel its enough.'

His words fell on deaf ears as the judge said he didn't believe Paul was truly repentant.

'The court believes Mr. Ferguson is one step away from becoming a psychopath like his mother,' Muskegon County Circuit Judge Matthew Kacel said Monday, reports the Grand Rapids Press.

Muskegon County Chief Trial Prosecutor Matt Roberts added that Paul represents a threat to the public if he doesn't get mental health treatment while incarcerated.