According to the court documents, the 44-year-old mom, later identified as Shanda, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for starving and t0rturing her special needs son, Timothy. Prosecutors said the mother also received additional 50 to 100 years for first-degree child abuse. During the trial, the defendant’s lawyer told prosecutors that his client didn’t want to kill her special needs son. Attorney Fred reportedly said that something broke in the mother mentally and she ‘didn’t know of the damage she was causing until it was too late.’
Shanda’s older son and co-defendant, Paul, reportedly testified against his mother and will be sentenced on February 26, 2024. During the trial, prosecutors said that the 44-year-old mom reportedly t0rtured her special needs son until he died. Timothy, who allegedly had some sort of incapacity or mental health issue, was found dead in July 2022 at the family’s home.
According to the prosecutors, the mother reportedly forced her son to puke up food, gave him strict time limits for toilet use, forced him to sleep in a closet, forced him to eat hot sauce, made him do wall sits and forced him to do ice baths. During the trial, prosecutors also said that the special needs boy died in a small closet under the basement stairs. The 44-year-old mom reportedly called him pathetic during his final moments. The forensic expert discovered the traces of his mother pouring hot sauce down his throat and placing him in an ice bath, the day before his death.
According to the defendant’s attorney, his client reportedly grew up while being physically and sexually abuse by her father and later her stepfather. He also said that his client was not aware of the damage she was causing because something broke in her mentally. But, prosecutors said that Shanda knew exactly what she was doing. Prosecutors also said that the defendant never looked up at her children as they spoke. He argued that she had stopped thinking of her children as human. They are not people to her, the prosecutor said.
