The FERGUSON Children - (2000-04) - Springfield OH

Vonda Ferguson tried to kill herself after she was convicted on
32 counts Friday, Nov. 20, deputies said.

Paramedics took her from the Clark County Common Pleas Court on a gurney with
powder on her face, then by squad to Springfield Regional Medical Center,
High Street campus.

She was found guilty of all 32 counts she faced, including felonious assault,
child endangering, permitting child abuse and rape.

Her sentencing was scheduled for Dec. 7. Union County Prosecutor David
Phillips wasn’t certain of the total years in prison she faced, but said he
would ask for at least as much time as her husband, who was convicted last
year and received 65 years in prison.

Ferguson shook her head repeatedly as each guilty verdict was read. She was
then handcuffed and led downstairs to a holding cell, where deputies noticed
she had something in her mouth, said Sgt. Phil Sanders of the Clark County
Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies immediately swept a blue powder out of her mouth, which she told
deputies were sleeping pills, and called a squad, Sanders said.

Ferguson told deputies she had the pills in her mouth in the courtroom and
attempted to kill herself because she wasn’t guilty of the charges. She
never lost consciousness, Sanders said.

“I advised her, ‘Why didn’t you file an appeal? ... Killing yourself is not a
good appeal,’ ” Sanders said.

She was convicted of using extreme forms of punishment on her five adopted
children — now ages 14 through 19 — between 2000 and 2004, allegedly hitting
them with hammers and belts until they bled. She also forced them to eat
excrement and burned them with irons, prosecutors said during the three-week
trial.

Phillips said he was pleased with the verdict.

“The children have waited a long time for justice,” he said.

Her lawyer left the courtroom without speaking to reporters. During closing
arguments defense attorney Jim Marshall questioned the children’s
credibility, calling them “troubled” and “disturbed” and saying they
conspired against their adoptive mother.

“We’ve heard so many stories, they can’t all possibly be true,” he said.