Shanda Vander Ark | Aspiring Lawyer Does Unthinkable to Her Son

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[00:00:46] Sign up for a $1 per month trial period at shopify.com slash income all lowercase. Go to shopify.com slash income now to grow your business no matter what stage you're in. This is True Crime Psychology and Personality where we discuss the pathology behind some

[00:01:18] of the most horrific crimes and those who committed them from a scientifically informed perspective. I'm Dr. Todd Grande. I have a PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision and I'm a licensed professional counselor of mental health. Dr. Todd Grande, that's my YouTube channel.

[00:01:37] Today's question is, can I analyze the case of Shonda Van Der Ark? First I'll look at the background of this case, move to the timeline of the crime, then offer my analysis. Shonda Van Der Ark was born in March 1979 and lived in Norton Shores, Michigan, which

[00:01:54] is 39 miles west of Grand Rapids. She had lived in Oklahoma before moving to Michigan. Shonda lived in a house on Marshall Road with her husband Adam, her son Paul Ferguson, and a younger son identified in court only with the letter G. She also had three other children.

[00:02:13] None of them lived in the house with her. One of these children was named Timothy Ferguson. He lived with Shonda's ex-husband. In May of 2021, Shonda's son Timothy moved into her house, so now there were five people living there.

[00:02:29] Shonda indicated that Timothy had autism, ADHD, and difficulty with his coordination. He did not attend traditional school, rather he was homeschooled. In January 2022, Adam had a stroke and moved out of the family house. So now it was just Shonda, Paul, Timothy, and G.

[00:02:52] Shonda would later claim that Adam moving out led to Timothy behaving badly. In the summer of 2022, Shonda worked as a law clerk for the Nuego Circuit Court. She had recently passed the bar exam and was on her way to becoming an attorney.

[00:03:11] At this time, Timothy was 15 years old, Paul was 19, and G was 7. Now moving to the timeline of the crime. On Wednesday, July 6, 2022, at 637 a.m., Shonda Van Der Ark called 911 after discovering that her son Timothy Ferguson was unresponsive. She claimed that he had been on a hunger strike.

[00:03:36] The police arrived and found that Timothy was dead. Here's what the police found during the course of their investigation. Timothy was exceptionally thin. An officer on the scene said that he was skin and bones. The medical examiner said that Timothy was only 69 pounds when he died.

[00:03:54] He should have weighed 132 pounds. He did not have any body fat, and some of his ligaments had detached. According to the medical examiner, Timothy's body was breaking down. Timothy's cause of death was dehydration and malnutrition. He was also suffering from hypothermia when he died.

[00:04:14] The police found a large number of text messages between Shonda and her son Paul, which indicated that they had been treating Timothy terribly. Timothy was subjected to ice baths. Shonda restricted his access to food. The refrigerator, freezer, and pantry had been locked to deny him access.

[00:04:33] He was only given bread and hot sauce. It appears as though Shonda went out of her way to acquire hot sauce that was as hot as possible. One of the brands of hot sauce she had in the house was called Elijah's Extreme Regret.

[00:04:50] The label contained this warning, quote, The pain becomes unbearable and you feel like you just ate a burning hot coal. That's when you realize extreme regret. Use with extreme caution or you will regret it, unquote.

[00:05:05] In one text message, Shonda appeared to consider the idea of applying the hot sauce directly to Timothy's private parts. Timothy's room was a closet under the basement stairs. It contained only a blue tarp and an Amazon box. The closet had an overwhelming smell of urine and feces.

[00:05:24] It appeared as though Timothy's movements were greatly limited. His access to a bathroom was restricted severely. The house was covered with cameras, motion sensors, and alarms. And Timothy was regularly restrained with handcuffs and zip ties. Shonda and Paul specifically discussed ways to make Timothy uncomfortable, like making

[00:05:45] him stand facing a wall for hours at a time. Paul would chase Timothy up and down the stairs. Shonda sent a text message to Paul essentially directing him to taunt Timothy with pizza rolls. She wrote, quote, I'm okay if they are frozen rather than cooked, unquote.

[00:06:04] On one occasion, Shonda ordered Paul to force Timothy to vomit after Timothy ate pieces of a bun from a hamburger that had been thrown away. Shonda appeared to be obsessed with the idea that Timothy was faking an inability to walk.

[00:06:19] She also claimed that his weight loss was due to a hunger strike, as I mentioned earlier. Not long before Timothy's death, he had been in an ice bath for about nine hours. On the day Timothy died, Shonda had recorded herself on video dragging him into the closet

[00:06:35] where he slept. She could be heard telling Timothy that he was pathetic. Shonda left the closet and returned about 15 minutes later. Timothy was taking shallow breaths through his mouth. Shonda grabbed him by the mouth and told him that he didn't need to breathe like that.

[00:06:51] She then said, quote, you're being a dummy, unquote. Timothy died not long after this. Shonda VanderArk was arrested and charged in connection with Timothy's death. Paul was arrested too, but he was only charged in connection with mistreating Timothy. He was not charged with murder.

[00:07:10] Paul agreed to testify against his mother. Did you guys hear about that couple that went on vacation and one spouse murdered the other? In fact, the entire vacation was planned just so that they could make the murder look like an accident. Ah, so like a slaycation.

[00:07:31] Oh boy, sounds like a fun new true crime podcast to me. On every episode of Slaycation, we'll examine true cases of people who were killed while on vacation. Was it murder? Or just a horrible accident? That's up to you and the law to decide.

[00:07:53] But either way, if you leave for your vacation in the plane and come home under the plane, you've definitely gone on a slaycation. Join us every week for a fascinating new episode. But make sure to pack your body bags because getting away can be murder. This is Slaycation.

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[00:09:23] Beware at your own risk and let the unsettling tales unfold in the haunting realm of Disturbed. And remember, listeners, stay safe out there. Shonda's trial started on December 13, 2023. As expected, Paul testified at the trial. Here are a few statements that he made.

[00:09:56] Paul had low self-esteem and he would do anything to make his mother proud of him. Timothy did not like the hot sauce. Essentially, Paul confirmed that Shonda used it as a method of torture. After Timothy died, Shonda directed Paul to put clothes on Timothy's body.

[00:10:14] Shonda destroyed some evidence, including an alarm and a camera. Timothy was never on a hunger strike. Rather, Shonda was lying when she claimed that he was. On December 14, Shonda testified in her own defense. Here are a few statements that she made.

[00:10:31] Shonda said that she was barely functioning and felt like a complete failure. She claimed it was Paul's idea to give Timothy hot sauce because Timothy loved hot, spicy food. The food was locked up in the house because Timothy had tried to take frozen food and uncooked meat.

[00:10:49] On one occasion, Timothy ate a two-pound bag of frozen chicken nuggets. Again, this is according to Shonda. She denied having any intention of hurting Timothy and claimed that she had gaps in her memory. During cross-examination, Shonda was showed photographs of her son.

[00:11:07] She appeared to have a panic attack and vomit, although there's no way to know if this was real or if she was faking it. The judge ended the proceedings for the day. On the next day, Friday, December 15, 2023, Shonda did not show up to court.

[00:11:24] Her attorney said that she was having a medical issue related to the stress of the trial. The trial continued without Shonda. It wrapped up that same day, and the case went to the jury.

[00:11:35] The judge allowed the jury not only to consider first-degree felony murder but voluntary or involuntary manslaughter. It took the jury less than two hours to return a verdict. 44-year-old Shonda VanderArk was found guilty of first-degree felony murder and first-degree child abuse. Shonda will be sentenced on January 29, 2024.

[00:11:56] First-degree felony murder carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison. Now moving to my analysis. There seems to be little doubt that Shonda was guilty of some crime, but was she guilty of first-degree felony murder?

[00:12:11] Let's take a look at the evidence both formed against the idea that Shonda was guilty, starting with the inculpatory factors. Shonda's text messages with Paul, as well as other evidence, support the idea that she deliberately tortured Timothy using a variety of methods.

[00:12:28] Many of her tactics revolved restricting his access to food, and Timothy died from dehydration and malnutrition. This supports the idea that Shonda's behavior directly caused Timothy's death. Even if Shonda did not intend to kill Timothy, she was committing a felony when he died,

[00:12:46] therefore she was responsible under the felony murder rule. After Shonda found Timothy unresponsive, she made efforts to conceal her crime. For example, she destroyed evidence, dressed Timothy, claimed that he had been on a hunger strike,

[00:13:01] claimed he had access to the pantry, lied to the authorities by saying that she checked on him at 530 a.m., and waited 18 minutes to call 911. On the stand, Shonda claimed that she did not remember key events like the text messages,

[00:13:18] yet she could remember many other events, like her claim that Timothy weighed 104 pounds two months before his death. It seemed as though she had a fear-of-prison-based memory loss. Shonda was an intelligent individual, she worked as a law clerk and was going to be a lawyer.

[00:13:36] How did she function so well if her memory was this compromised? Referring to Timothy, Paul once sent his mother a text message that read, quote, I think we need to actually feed him, unquote. This supports the idea that they were not feeding him.

[00:13:52] Moving to the exculpatory factors, Shonda allegedly had obsessive-compulsive disorder, ADHD, PTSD, and memory problems. Perhaps her symptoms impaired her functioning in a way that reduces her guilt. Shonda claimed that she did not intend for Timothy to be harmed. That's pretty much it for exculpatory factors.

[00:14:15] When considering all the evidence in this case, do I think that Shonda Vander Ark was guilty of first-degree felony murder? Yes, I believe she was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. What do I think happened in this case? This is just a theory, my opinion.

[00:14:30] For some reason, Shonda developed an intense hatred for her son Timothy. She may have been unwilling to accept the fact that Timothy was disabled. Therefore, she constantly believed he was faking symptoms. Every symptom of his disability was attributed to deceitfulness and manipulation.

[00:14:48] Shonda's hatred and anger grew more intense over time. She was disgusted by Timothy. The more that Shonda punished him, the more symptoms he exhibited. This created a vicious cycle. Shonda was able to recruit her son Paul into a criminal scheme because he was easy to manipulate

[00:15:06] and wanted to please her. Paul had lived in the house prior to Timothy arriving. He may have viewed Timothy as an interloper. Furthermore, feelings of sibling rivalry can be strong. Shonda managed to tap into this and distort it into something much more destructive.

[00:15:23] To a teenager, there's something very persuasive about a parent who permits, encourages, and actively participates in sadistic behavior. Shonda became so lost in her false belief that Timothy was manipulative that she ignored the many warning signs that he was in danger of dying.

[00:15:41] The words that Timothy heard from Shonda in his final moments were indicative of Shonda's never-ending contempt for him. Timothy was surrounded by disdain and hatred. Shonda was genuinely surprised when Timothy died, but she had no feelings of compassion or remorse.

[00:15:59] Her first thought was, how can I escape responsibility? At her trial, Shonda wanted the benefits of testifying under direct examination without the risk of cross-examination. She fabricated memory problems to avoid answering all the state's difficult questions.

[00:16:16] With her knowledge of the law, Shonda was aware that there was nothing the state could do if she claimed not to remember something. Shonda didn't really care about Timothy and therefore was unable to generate emotions

[00:16:27] consistent with sadness, but she realized the jury wanted to see her respond in that way. She decided to pretend vomiting as a crude way of trying to express the correct emotions. Knowing that she was going to be convicted either way, Shonda decided not to participate

[00:16:45] in the rest of her trial and pretended to be sick in jail. Moving to my last question, it's clear that Shonda deserves life in prison, but what would justice look like for her son, Paul Ferguson?

[00:16:57] Even though Paul admitted to wrongdoing, he is a victim in this case as well. Shonda destroyed Paul's life by making him a criminal conspirator. It's clear that she was the one who wanted to harm Timothy. Paul was not an eager or enthusiastic participant.

[00:17:13] Despite the high level of control that Shonda had over him, Paul warned her about his brother's poor condition and recommended feeding Timothy. At least Paul was trying to do something to help his brother. I think a fair sentence in this case would be five years in prison.

[00:17:30] Paul appears to have a conscience, therefore he will receive a life sentence of guilt and shame. Now moving to my final thoughts. It's hard to imagine how Shonda's values as an aspiring attorney were consistent with murder. Maybe she interpreted herself as the judge, jury, and executioner.

[00:17:49] In her mind, she wasn't just a participant in the legal system, rather she made the law. Considering her educational achievements, I imagine that Shonda looked forward to a long career. She will never be an attorney, but all is not lost.

[00:18:04] She will still get to spend her entire life in the criminal justice system. This has been True Crime Psychology and Personality from Ars Langa Media. This content is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Ars Langa, Vida Brevis. Allegedly is back for season two, a new crime every time.

[00:18:39] In each episode of Allegedly, you'll hear a crime told to you by the person who experienced it, intermingled with actor portrayals, original music, immersive soundscapes, to create a cinematic experience for your ear. Season two's stories include a young woman finding salvation in God,

[00:18:56] only to realize the leader of her church was running a sex cult. A case of a con artist swindling a kindly older man until he couldn't do anything to stop her. A landlord exploiting a mentally disabled man and keeping him a virtual prisoner.

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