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A jury has found a western Michigan woman guilty of murder and child abuse in the starvation death of her disabled 15-year-old son who weighed just 69 pounds.
Shanda Vander Ark, 44, vomited on the stand after seeing photos of teen son Timothy Ferguson's malnourished body before he died. She was found guilty of murder after an hour of deliberation and faces life in prison.
Court proceedings picked up Friday morning sans defendant, as a mother is charged with neglecting and abusing her teenage son to the point he died in the basement of their Norton Shores home.
A Muskegon County Circuit Court jury deliberated just over an hour before convicting her of first degree murder
An autopsy determined the teenager died from from malnourishment and hypothermia. The medical examiner ruled his death a homicide.