During her testimony, law clerk Shanda Vander Ark experienced an intense reaction, vomiting at the sight of photos of her son's frail and emaciated 69-pound frame.
Shortly after her breakdown, Shanda was found guilty.
Watch the video:
NEW: Mother who starved her disabled 15-year-old son to death barfs on stand after she was showed photos of his starved body just hours before he died.
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) December 17, 2023
There is a special place in h*ll for people like this
Shanda Vander Ark tortured her own son by making him take four hour long… pic.twitter.com/hhmQA5TStJ
From The Daily Mail UK:
She tortured Timothy, who had autism with speech and motor impairment, by feeding him only bread covered in hot sauce, deprived him of sleep and forced him into ice baths as punishment.
Vander Ark did not turn up to the trial on Friday due to a 'medical issue' but a jury found her guilty of first degree murder and first degree child abuse in her absence. She is due to be sentenced on January 29 and faces life in prison.
Vander Ark took the witness stand on Thursday and began hyperventilating and showing signs of a mental breakdown.
Prosecutor Roberts handed her pictures of Timothy's emaciated 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 court, asked for a moment and started to cry.
The next day, Vander Ark, who has five biological children including a nine-year-old boy, was found guilty of torturing and murdering Timothy.
There's truly a special place in hell for this woman. Thank goodness the jury found her guilty, but quite frankly, she deserves much more than just life in prison.
