Prosecuting attorney delivers closing arguments in case against MI woman accused of killing son

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: Welcome back ladies and gentlemen, I will commence with closing arguments, Mr. Roberts. Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, once again on behalf of the people of the state of Michigan, I want to thank you for your time and attention to these matters. As we've repeatedly indicated and as now you've seen through the evidence and the testimony in this case, these are incredibly difficult, incredibly sensitive matters and we certainly do thank you for your time and attention to them. I usually like to start closing statements in a homicide trial such as this by showing you a photograph. And that photograph is usually the victim in the case prior to their death. In this case our victim was a child. We'd hope to be able to show you a photograph of what he looked like within a few months of his death. I can't do that. I can't do that because the defendant apparently took it upon herself to make sure there were no photographs taken of the victim in the six months leading up to his death. In opening statement I told you about that song, "What's the Matter Here?" The line from that song, "answer me and take your time, what could be the awful crime he could do at so young an age?" So ask yourselves that. What was the awful crime that Timothy committed to have these atrocities perpetrated upon him? What did he do? What did he do? He stole some food? [00:01:39] Speaker ?: He took some things apart? That's all I heard. [00:01:41] Speaker 1: And he paid for that with his life. And like I told you, I can't answer the why. I can't answer why the cold and lowly things were done to him. [00:01:48] Speaker ?: Because it doesn't make sense. It does not make any sense that a 15 year old should be made to suffer the way Timothy was. [00:01:50] Speaker 1: To be made a prisoner the way Timothy was. To be made a prisoner the way Timothy was. [00:01:52] Speaker ?: To be made a prisoner the way Timothy was. [00:01:53] Speaker 1: And make no mistake, he was a prisoner in that home. He was a prisoner in that home. He was a prisoner in that home. [00:01:57] Speaker ?: He was a prisoner in that home. [00:01:58] Speaker 1: And he was a prisoner in that home. He was a prisoner in that home. And he was a prisoner in that home. And he was a prisoner in that home. And he was a prisoner in that home. He was a prisoner in that home. And he was a prisoner in that home. [00:02:05] Speaker ?: And he was a prisoner in that home. [00:02:06] Speaker 1: And he was a prisoner in that home. And he was a prisoner in that home. And he was a prisoner in that home. And he was a prisoner in that home. And he was a prisoner in that home. And he was a prisoner in that home. And he was a prisoner in that home. We give prisoners rights. Prisoners of war have rights. Timothy had none of those. Because the person charged with his care and custody. Refused them. Kept them locked up in the basement of that home. With motion sensors and alarms. To make sure he didn't even go upstairs. Let alone anywhere else. But not to even go upstairs. Alarms on his body. To go off. He didn't like the noise. Motion sensors on the stairs. If he tried to go upstairs. Alarms on his small room. Closet. Door. If he tried to get out. Motion sensors if he put his arm down during a punishment. Cameras watching every moment. And at the heart of all of this. The defendant. That alone, ladies and gentlemen, is a basis for first degree child abuse. The serious mental infliction of harm upon Timothy as a result of her actions is all you need to find to find that the defendant is guilty of first degree child abuse. And that's the tip of the iceberg. Towards the end of Ms. Van Ark's testimony yesterday, I kept pressing her on that question. What did he do? What is it that he was doing? Apparently so desperate for food that he ate frozen chicken nuggets and uncooked hamburger. Explain this to the jury so they can understand, so they can make sense of why it was that you chose to do these things. And she got mad at the end. Towards the end of her testimony. It became clear that she was still mad at Timothy. He was sneaky and deceitful. Over and over again, he was sneaky and deceitful. He'd sneak things when he wasn't supposed to. He was deceitful. He would lie about things. And you heard over and over again in the text messages. He's lying about that. He's not going to get away with it. This is all fake. All of those things. So ask yourself this question. Who do we know was sneaky and deceitful here? The defendant. And it started when, after 18 minutes of her son being unresponsive and so obviously deceased, she finally decides to call 9-1-1. But you better get her story straight before we call 9-1-1. So what's the last thing she says before she calls 9-1-1 to Paul? We'll have to tell him he's been on a hunger strike. Before that. Where's your belt? Put your belt on him. I want to make it look like he's been this way. No emotion in her voice. No tears. Start with, why does it take you 18 minutes to call 9-1-1? Call 9-1-1. You saw the image. You saw Timothy laying there on the floor. You heard them repeatedly talking about how he was stiff, how he wasn't moving, how he wasn't breathing, how his eyes were fixed open. And they don't call 9-1-1. Who does that? How does a parent do that? Paul asked her, should we call 9-1-1? Should we call for an ambulance? Not yet. And it's almost another 10 minutes before she calls after that. Then when she calls 9-1-1, the lies start. I came and checked on him at 5:30. And then when I came down, he was unresponsive on his bed. Both completely false. We know he wasn't checked on at 5:30. We know the last thing that she did and said to her son. You can hear it from Lieutenant Hooksum's testimony today. The last thing she did to her son was to drag him into a small room, throw him down on the ground like he was a piece of meat on a tarp in the room where she says he wanted to be. That was his comfort. Positions him in front of the camera so she can see. Calls him stupid. Then when he has the indignity to roll over. No, that's not good enough. She comes back. Positions him again in front of the camera. Makes the dog lick his face to get a reaction from him. Holds his mouth closed and said, "See, dummy? You don't need to open your mouth to breathe." Imagine those being the last words you said to your child. Because that's what it was. That's the last thing anybody said to Timothy. You don't need to open your mouth to breathe, dummy. Shut away in isolation after months and months of physical and mental abuse at the hands of the defendant. And Timothy slipped away. No, I went to check on him at 5:30. [00:08:02] Speaker ?: Lie. [00:08:05] Speaker 1: I have to put you on hold because I have to pull him off the bed. [00:08:08] Speaker ?: Lie. [00:08:11] Speaker 1: He's been on a hunger strike for the last couple of weeks, but I was just about to call a doctor. [00:08:15] Speaker ?: Lie. [00:08:20] Speaker 1: Then the lies continue. [00:08:26] Speaker ?: Officer Pieski. Detective Pieski. Interview in the defendant. [00:08:36] Speaker 1: Why is there a lock in the fridge and the freezer? He's got access. The locks are on the fridge and the freezer because he would leave the door open, but he has access to the pantry. [00:08:47] Speaker ?: Lie. [00:08:48] Speaker 1: Text messages over and over again talking about how he was able to get into the pantry and her repeated commands to Paul, starting in February, to make sure that all the food is locked up and Timothy doesn't have access, including the pantry. Yesterday on the stand, that shifts into, well, he did have access to a small cabinet where there were some canned goods. So this boy who was dying of emaciation, we're supposed to believe that he's going to have the ability to go into a cabinet to get canned goods, get a can opener, open them and cook himself some food. Well, you know, that's not true. He's not allowed to have food. He can't do that. The only thing you can hear in these text messages that he's allowed to have for those last few weeks after the June 13th photograph, which we'll get to in a minute, is the bread with hot sauce. Did you hear any testimony from her about full meals that she would cook for him? Anything? No. What's her response when she gets sent the picture? "Mama, we need to actually feed him." That's the phrase. We need to actually feed him? He's bone thin, mama. I think, honestly, we need to actually feed him. And what's her response? Give him bread. [00:10:19] Speaker ?: Give him bread. [00:10:23] Speaker 1: Give him bread with peanut butter. The unresponsiveness is probably fake, but I see what you mean. Yesterday, she wants you to believe, I didn't see that photograph. She literally uses the word "see" in her text message. I see what you mean. And then tries to split hairs about what that phrase means. Let's assume she didn't see the photograph for just a moment. Your child is so alarmed that he's saying, "He's bone thin. I think we actually need to feed him." And your first response is, "Give him bread." What does that tell you about her mindset? Her mindset is, that's what he gets to eat. He gets bread. Maybe some peanut butter. That's what he gets to eat. Not the canned goods that he can get access to under the cabinet. And heaven forbid he commit the crime of sneaking a piece of candy. Or eating some frozen chicken nuggets. Give him bread. That's what I'm saying. Detective Pieske. Well, after the stroke, he went on a hunger strike. That was a lie. Paul told you it was a lie. He never went on a hunger strike. There isn't a single reference here to him being on a hunger strike in January or in July. The bigger binder. More of the text messages. Just about Timothy. All of the text messages. Just about Timothy. I gave her the option yesterday. I said, show me the text about the hunger strike. You're so concerned about everything. You're so concerned about watching the cameras. Setting the alarms. Making sure the food is what it's supposed to be. Making sure he's running stairs. Doing wall sits. Getting cold baths. All of that stuff. Show me in here where you're talking about him being on a hunger strike. No. The hunger strike thing isn't real. And think about it for just a moment. If your child was on a hunger strike, what would you do? I know what I'd do. Remember we talked about reason and common sense. What's the reasonable thing to do? Get your child to a doctor. Get your child to a therapist. Get your child to something. But what does she actually do? The first set of text messages we hear? The first text message. February 18th. So this would be on or about the time of that first hunger strike. First, rude. And second, why are his hands free? That's where we're starting. Why are his hands free? Because he's a human being. And what did he get into? That he felt he needed to brush his teeth to hide it. I think most parents would be ecstatic about their child actually brushing their teeth. I know I am and my kids do it. But to her, him brushing his teeth is a sign that he's hiding something. Sorry, didn't know he was up. What do you mean he didn't know he was up? Has he not been upstairs against the wall? He said he was supposed to be against the wall. No. What? Why the heck not? What the heck has been going on? Check the brownies in the kitchen. Check everything not locked away. Check where the flipping keys have been. This is in February. We're not even talking about the last couple of weeks that Timothy's alive. This is in February. And she's already started talking about locking away food. Five months before Timothy dies and she's talking about restricting his access to food. Hunger strike? [00:13:57] Speaker ?: No. She realized late last night that he was thin. She threatened to take him to the ER if he didn't eat. [00:13:59] Speaker 1: We know what she did to him the last night. She wasn't remotely concerned about his physical appearance. [00:14:02] Speaker ?: Make no mistake. [00:14:03] Speaker 1: She could see his physical appearance because she dragged him into the closet and Detective Hooks. [00:14:08] Speaker ?: Lieutenant Hooksoma described to you in unfortunately vivid detail. [00:14:08] Speaker 1: And the images are horrifying. Truly horrifying. But you've seen the photos of what he looked like when he died. And that was hours before. A mother dragging her child into a room throwing him down on the ground. [00:14:14] Speaker ?: Does that sound like I realized last night? [00:14:14] Speaker 1: That was a very good thing. That was a very good thing. I think it was a very good thing. I think it was a very good thing. I think it was a very good thing. I think it was a very good thing. I think it was a very good thing. I think it was a very good thing. I think it was a very good thing. I think it was a very good thing. I think it was a very good thing. I think it was a very good thing. I think it was a very good thing. I think it was a very good thing. I think it was a very good thing. [00:14:29] Speaker ?: I think it was a very good thing. [00:14:30] Speaker 1: I think it was a very good thing. You've seen the photos of what he looked like when he died. And that was hours before. A mother dragging her child into a room throwing him down on the ground. Does that sound like I realized last night he was ill? And I threatened to take him to the ER if he didn't eat? So I made him a piece of toast with butter on it. She even admitted that was a lie. Said he was done after he ate the toast and went downstairs. He couldn't even move at that point. You heard Dr. DeYoung's testimony about what happens to the body as it breaks down, as it goes through these stages of malnutrition. He was 69 pounds. The average, and he was average height, the average 15-year-old male is 132 pounds. He was 62 pounds underweight. And we saw what he was like three weeks before. Make no mistake, she saw what he was like three weeks before. She got ready for work in the morning and went to check on him. No, that's not true. But it's interesting that she mentions getting ready for work. Because on that video you can hear her. And she's been working on Timothy for a number of minutes at this point in time. And she says, "Well, I guess I'm going to be late for work, but we've got to get him responsive." Talk about cold. "I guess I'm going to be late for work." Your child is dead. And all you can think about is being late for work? She had to have Paul help him get off the bed. Lie. On a hunger strike two weeks ago. Lie. There are no pictures of Timothy since January. That one's true. And then when the detective starts to ask about the unusual things in the house. Like shackles? What are these like shackles for? Oh, those are Paul's like shackles. Never mind. This is hours after this has taken place. And it's just lie after lie after lie. How do we know it's a lie? May 18th. The wisely transaction is handcuffs and legcuffs for Timothy from Amazon. Figured it would be okay to get those right away so we can talk about the censors and stuff. That's her text message. The handcuffs and legcuffs for Timothy. Well, I would never use them on Timothy. June 27th. He's moved around so he got the cuffs in front of him instead of behind him. So he's handcuffed behind his back. I put the cuffs back behind him. I put the cuffs back behind him. I will have to deal with less than two hours of sleep today but not letting him get away with this BS. [00:17:40] Speaker ?: It's all about her. [00:17:43] Speaker 1: That's two weeks after the photograph goes to her showing how thin he is. And he's handcuffed behind his back by her. Could this be any more about her? Could this text message show you any more how this was all about her? I will have to deal with less than two hours of sleep today but not letting him get away with this BS. [00:18:03] Speaker ?: It's all about her. It's all about her. It's all about her. Tell her out of bed at 5:30. Nope. Never happened. [00:18:07] Speaker 1: Never went to check on him. The last thing you said to your child was you don't have to breathe with your mouth open dummy. [00:18:11] Speaker ?: Oh there's alarms on that room down there because we had the sewing stuff in there. [00:18:15] Speaker 1: Why? The cameras were in the home because Gabriel would strip down naked and wander around. Maybe a camera was in there for that. But she doesn't care about wandering around naked. You heard the text messages. Timothy had to clean the garage with nothing on below his waist and then stand against the wall with nothing on below his waist. He had to earn his worth. You don't have to breathe with your mouth open. You don't have to breathe with your mouth open dummy. Oh there's alarms on that room down there because we had the sewing stuff in there. Why? The cameras were in the home because Gabriel would strip down naked and wander around. Maybe a camera was in there for that. But she doesn't care about wandering around naked. You heard the text messages. Timothy had to clean the garage with nothing on below his waist and then stand against the wall with nothing on below his waist. He had to earn his right to get clothes back. She doesn't care if her kids are running around the house naked. It's a form of punishment for her. Doesn't restrict his movement with shackles. Now Ms. Van Der Ark was up here yesterday for quite some time. And she told you about what intelligent lady she is and I will give her that credit. She is a highly, highly intelligent lady. It takes a lot to finish second in your class in law school. Graduate. Magna cum laude. It takes a lot to get a score of 182 and pass the bar exam. Heck, it takes a lot to just pass the bar exam, let alone get a score of 182. So this is a highly intelligent woman we're dealing with. She clerked for not one, but two different judges. Was clerking for a judge at the time her child died. Yet she wants you to believe that she doesn't remember any of this. Can't remember any of this. I don't remember that text message. I don't remember doing that. I don't remember saying that. Every time she's confronted with something that she did or something that she directed to be done to Timothy, she can't remember. How does this woman hold down a job as a legal clerk? If your memory problems are that bad that you can't send these text messages, how are you not seeing a therapist? How are you not on medication to address these issues? You couldn't hold down a job if you were that, let alone a job as a legal clerk, if you had that many memory problems. Let's talk about the things that she can remember. Oh, right after Mother's Day, he weighed 104 pounds. And I asked a couple of times, 108 pounds? No, no, no, 104 pounds. She's absolutely certain about that. Somehow she can remember three months before, no, I'm sorry, two months before Timothy dies, what he weighed. That's a detail that she can remember. The bad things? No, I can't remember any of that. That's the detail that she can remember. How self-serving is that? That you can only remember the good things and you can't remember the bad things. And three weeks later, that's how he looked. Does that look like 104 pounds? Sure doesn't look like it to me. There isn't a single text message in here or in there, the larger binder, where she says, what are we doing? I don't understand why we're doing these things. Why are these things happening? Why is Timothy on a camera? Why is Timothy in handcuffs? Why is Timothy locked away in a small room? If she has all these memory issues, where are those text messages? Where are the memory issues in here? She knows everything that she wants to have done and she's telling Paul day after day after day what to do to Timothy. Not struggling to remember what it is. Not struggling to remember what it is that Timothy had done to be punished in this way. Not struggling with any of that. She doesn't have memory problems. She might have chosen at this point to block those things out from her memory. But make no mistake, all of these things happened. She did all of these things. It's only now that suddenly she has memory issues. So stressed out. So much stuff going on. Not so much stuff going on that you can't spend half of your time at work, especially in those last couple of days, just watching the camera. Watching while Timothy's in the bathtub for hours on end the day before he dies. Telling Paul to pour more cold water on him. Telling Paul to take a pizza roll. Take a pizza roll. [00:23:19] Speaker ?: Warm it up. [00:23:20] Speaker 1: Hold it in front of his face and see if he reacts. But be ready to snatch it away if he tries to eat it. This is supposedly when he's on a hunger strike. And you're going to bait him with food? She did all of these horrible, horrible things. And she doesn't get to hide behind saying, "I just don't remember doing them." Or, "I didn't intend for Timothy to come to any harm." Of course she intended for Timothy to come to harm. Of course she did, ladies and gentlemen. No rational person. No person who can score 182 on the bar exam, let alone any other individual. No parent. Nobody with the logic and reasoning skills that she has could not understand the consequences of what she was doing. I didn't intend for any of this to happen. We don't even know if that's true. It's not. But we couldn't even say that that was true anyway. She can barely even say that. Because by her account, she doesn't remember doing any of these things. For all we know, she did intend for all of these things to happen. Which of course she did. And remember we talked about the cookbook in Bois Adir. We went over it a couple of times. Unless you hear a defense from the judge in these instructions that says, "If you find that the defendant just doesn't remember these things, that she can be found not guilty, she doesn't get the benefit of that." Don't add to the cookbook. Don't give her a defense that I just don't remember doing these things. I hope, on some level, maybe she doesn't remember these things. Because they are so cold. They are so lowly. They are so dangerous. That they took Timothy's life. Sleep deprivation. No clothes. Hot sauce. You heard the description of the hot sauce today. Oh no, that was Paul's idea. The hot sauce was Paul's idea. Paul's text to her. July 2nd, three days before Timothy dies. So apparently this hot sauce isn't just Carolina Reaper. It's also Trinidad scorpion chili pepper. Her response? Yep. She knew what it was. She went out of her way. Whether it was her or whether it was Paul at her direction. Or the two of them doing it together. Out of her way to find a hot sauce that would be too much for him to take. Let's set aside the logic for just a moment. How is it that you decide you're going to punish a child with hot sauce? If the child likes hot sauce. It's ridiculous. That's the form of punishment? [00:26:34] Speaker ?: Of course not. [00:26:34] Speaker 1: That doesn't make any sense. Again, common sense. Don't check it at the door. He didn't like hot sauce. You know he didn't like hot sauce because they wouldn't be using it for a punishment if he liked it. This is July 2nd. This is weeks after this photograph is taken and sent to her when she can see how thin he is. Hot sauce. Hot sauce on bread. Four slices with hot sauce. Four slices as long as there's plenty of hot sauce on it. And if he waits 30 minutes he can have some without hot sauce. So his reward for eating four slices of bread with hot sauce on it is if he can wait 30 minutes, he can have four regular pieces of bread. 30 seconds after she sends that text, she talks about getting chicken nuggets and fries for G. She can process all this in her head. Whoop, punishment, hot sauce, timothy, whoop, fries, chicken nuggets for G. That doesn't sound like somebody who doesn't know what they're doing. That doesn't sound like somebody who has memory issues. That doesn't sound like somebody who's not in control of their actions. She's in control of everything. She is watching everything. She knows everything. Even when Paul is supposed to be watching. She's watching as well and critiquing how well Paul is doing watching. He's with Timothy at the tub. And she's watching to make sure that Timothy doesn't look too comfortable in the tub. [00:28:09] Speaker ?: Move his head. [00:28:09] Speaker 1: Looks like he's trying to get comfortable. Pour some cold water on him. Do the pizza roll thing. Somehow as an act of grace, mercy, whatever you want to call it. Go ahead and give him two pizza rolls and I don't care if they're frozen. It's difficult to understand how a person can be so detached to another person, let alone a child. So ladies and gentlemen, it's the people's position in this case that the defendant is guilty of two crimes. So the first crime is first degree child abuse. In order to prove the crime of first degree child abuse, I do have to prove the following. First, that Shonda Van Aark is the parent of Timothy Ferguson. That goes obviously without question. Second, that the defendant either knowingly or intentionally caused serious harm and/or serious mental harm to Timothy Ferguson. By serious physical harm, I mean any physical injury to a child that seriously impairs the child's health or physical well-being, but not limited to brain damage, skull bone fracture, subdural hematoma, subdural hemorrhage, dislocation, sprain, ankle, internal injury, poisoning, burn, scald, or severe cut. She killed him. She starved him to death. She directed that he be in an ice bath for hours at a time. What was her story yesterday about the ice bath? Well, they didn't start off as ice baths. Okay, so they started off with cold water. No, they started off with hot water. Well, why would you put ice cubes in a hot bath? And how is that a punishment? Then confronted with the text, again, don't remember. Let him know that if he tries to sleep at all, sleep deprivation, he'll get another ice bath, there's been one before, sometime before you leave for work, and another when I get home. That's the description about three ice baths in one text message. I said, you wouldn't make up additional ice and put it in the freezer, would you, because you needed it for later? No, no, we wouldn't do that. Might want to toss the ice that is made into some Ziploc bags in the freezer tomorrow, or if we need a bunch more. You heard Dr. DeYoung's testimony. Timothy had signs of hypothermia. How does a 15-year-old in Michigan in July get hypothermia? By sitting in an ice bath for hours upon hours upon hours at a time, and that's what Timothy went through on the last day of his life. He was tortured with a pizza roll that he could eat. Cold water repeatedly dumped on him. Repositioned if he started to feel comfortable. And she's watching everything. She's directing everything. [00:31:21] Speaker ?: Serious mental harm. [00:31:23] Speaker 1: I mean, any injury to a child's mental condition that results in visible signs of an impairment of the child's judgment, behavior, ability to recognize reality, or ability to cope with the ordinary demands of life. That's a no brainer. The level of mental harm inflicted on Timothy is difficult to grasp. Our 15-year-old already with special needs, the sensory issue that she described. She's punishing him with hot sauce. She's punishing him with ice baths. She's punishing him with alarms that make noise that affects his ears. She's depriving him of sleep. She's depriving him of movement. She's depriving him of clothes. She's locking him in a closet. If that's not serious mental harm, then I don't know what is. And again, these are all at her direction. And don't let her off the hook, ladies and gentlemen, just because she stood up here and said yesterday, "I didn't intend for these things to happen." Of course you intended for these things to happen. Of course you intended for these things to happen. She's guilty of first-degree child abuse. It's also the people's position that she's guilty of first-degree felony murder. If you find that she's guilty of that first-degree child abuse, you turn to the analysis of the murder charge here. And in order to prove first-degree murder, two sheets at once. First, that the defendant caused the death of Timothy Ferguson. That is, Timothy Ferguson died as a result of starvation and/or physical abuse, physical neglect and abuse. You heard Dr. DeYoung's testimony about the cause of death for Timothy here, and all you needed to do was look at the photograph to see how he died. And again, I wish I could have spared everybody from seeing those photographs, but I can't. Because I have to prove, and this is why, I have to prove how he died. The defendant has one of these three states of mind. She intended to kill, she intended to do great bodily harm to Timothy Ferguson, or she knowingly created a very high risk of death or great bodily harm, knowing that death or such harm would be the likely result of her actions. Let's talk about that first one for a moment. She intended to kill. I wish I could stand up here and tell you that I think she actually didn't have the intent to kill. I wish I could do that because the notion that you could starve a child to death intentionally, over months and months, which is what it would take, I wish she didn't have that intent. I wish I didn't believe that she had that intent. And it's for you to decide whether or not she had that intent, but her actions sure show that she had that intent. If she wanted to kill Timothy, I wish she'd done it a lot faster than what she did. Because what he would have had to have gone through in those last few days or few weeks is unthinkable. But she had that intent to kill him. At a minimum, she had an intent to do him great bodily harm, and you can find either one. And even if you had struggled with finding that, she knowingly created a very high risk of death or great bodily harm, knowing that death or such harm would be the likely result of his actions. She made a situation so dangerous, so obviously dangerous to anyone, especially someone of her intelligence level, that death or great bodily harm was the likely result. Death was the result. Death was the result because of what she did to him, because of the things that she directed to be done to him. On the stand yesterday, she tried to say, "Well, some of this was Paul's idea. Paul did this, and Paul did that, and Paul did this, and Paul did that." So if you need to, feel free to review these text messages. If you want, you can review the bigger binder of text messages, because these are all about Timothy as well. And when I say they're about Timothy, they're not about Timothy, you know, all the good things that he's done, all the good things we're going to do. It's all about the punishments. But this is a small window, this is a larger window into the life, to the hell that Timothy's life was for the last six months. Every step of the way, her directing, her telling, her ordering, her threatening Paul to do the things. This was not on Paul. I told you in opening that you may not like Paul Ferguson. And I do believe that he is also in part responsible for Timothy's death here. But you had an opportunity to see Paul testify here. Did that look like the mastermind behind this? Or did that look like, as he put it, somebody who was just desperate for attention, desperate for the love? The love of his mother, and doing the things that she wanted him to do. That's for you to decide. But I submit to you, ladies and gentlemen, that's what it was. That Paul was doing what she told him to do. Because he knew what was going to happen to him if he didn't do those things. Quite simply, ladies and gentlemen, as I've said, this is a case of first degree felony murder. The underlying felony being first degree child abuse. That's the other element that you need to find happened here, that she committed that first, that felony first degree child abuse. And if you find those two things, if you find that she committed the first degree child abuse, and that she had one of those three states of mind, and it doesn't matter which one you decide, but if she had any one of those three states of mind as it related to Timothy, that she's guilty of first degree felony murder, and she's guilty of first degree child abuse. Ladies and gentlemen, Timothy Ferguson, to the defendant, had ceased to be a person. Timothy Ferguson had become less than the animals that she trains. You've heard her say, it would never occur to her to do the things that she did to Timothy, to the animals that she trains, to the dogs that she trains. He was less than a dog to her. And this was a fight that he was not going to win. But don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. [00:38:44] Speaker ?: Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. [00:38:49] Speaker 1: Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. [00:38:51] Speaker ?: Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. [00:38:59] Speaker 1: Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. [00:39:06] Speaker ?: Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. [00:39:08] Speaker 1: Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. [00:39:10] Speaker ?: Don't take my word for it. [00:39:11] Speaker 1: Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. [00:39:23] Speaker ?: Don't take my word for it. [00:39:32] Speaker 1: Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. [00:39:46] Speaker ?: Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. [00:39:52] Speaker 1: Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. [00:40:04] Speaker ?: Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. [00:40:08] Speaker 1: Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. [00:40:14] Speaker ?: Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. [00:40:18] Speaker 1: Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. [00:40:23] Speaker ?: Don't take my word for it. [00:40:32] Speaker 1: Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. [00:40:34] Speaker ?: Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. [00:40:41] Speaker 1: Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. [00:40:47] Speaker ?: Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. [00:40:49] Speaker 1: Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. [00:41:11] Speaker ?: Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. [00:41:14] Speaker 1: Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. [00:41:18] Speaker ?: Don't take my word for it. [00:41:19] Speaker 1: Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. [00:41:35] Speaker ?: Don't take my word for it. [00:41:36] Speaker 1: Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. [00:41:47] Speaker ?: Don't take my word for it. [00:41:48] Speaker 1: Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. [00:42:07] Speaker ?: Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it. [00:42:09] Speaker 1: Don't take my word for it. Don't take my word for it.