‘Thought it was just acting’: Elder brother ‘enforcer’ describes force-feeding abused teen ‘reaper’ hot sauce, leaving him to die in small closet

Paul Byron Ferguson (Stranger Stores).

Paul Byron Ferguson (Stranger Stores).

Interrogation footage, obtained by Stranger Stories and posted on the Law&Crime Network’s YouTube page, shows authorities interrogating a young man who helped his mother abuse his little brother to death.

Paul Byron Ferguson, 22, is currently sitting at the Oaks Correctional Facility for a 30-to-100-year sentence. He had pleaded guilty to child abuse, but as reported in February, Judge Matthew Kacel, took the option to sentence him above the guidelines for horrifically mistreating the victim, Timothy Ferguson, 15. Mother Shanda Margaret Vander Ark is serving life for murdering the teenager, but Paul Ferguson played a pivotal role as her enforcer while all three lived in the same home.

“I think you’re just as bad, if not worse,” Kacel told him at his sentencing.



As established at trial, Timothy died in a small closet under the basement stairs — what amounted to his room — and his mother called him “pathetic” amid his final moments.

“You knew exactly what you were doing,” Kacel told her in her sentencing hearing in January.

More Law&Crime coverage: Mom sentenced for child abuse murder of 4-year-old girl forced to stand up for so long that she eventually fell down and died

You May Also Like

Palm Coast Council Seeks Analysis to Move Proposed Fuel Farm Off U.S. 1 as Opposition Builds Fast

Residents of Sawmill Creek, the new subdivision just north of a proposed…

Matanzas High School Student Lands a Punch on Deputy Breaking Up a Fight

A Matanzas High School student was arrested after striking a sheriff’s deputy…

Florida House Committee Approves Sales Tax Cut to 5.25% But Eliminates Tax ‘Holidays’

House Ways & Means Chairman Wyman Duggan, R-Jacksonville, is helping lead efforts…

The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, April 6, 2025

The economy is a patient by Dave Whamond, Canada, PoliticalCartoons.com To include…