Susan Smith, convicted of drowning her two sons 30 years ago, was unanimously denied parole Wednesday in a virtual appearance before a parole board in South Carolina. Michael, 3, and 14-month old Alex died in 1994 when Smith let her car roll into a lake. Photo courtesy South Carolina Department of Corrections
A South Carolina parole board Wednesday unanimously denied Susan Smith parole. She murdered her toddler children Michael and Alex by rolling her car into a lake with them inside in 1994.
Michael, 3, and 14-month old Alex died when Smith let her car roll into a lake. Advertisement
An emotional Smith told the board during a virtual hearing, “I know that what I did was horrible. And I would give anything if I could go back and change it. I love Michael and Alex with all my heart.”
David Smith, her ex-husband and father of the murdered children, told the parole board, “This wasn’t a tragic mistake. … She purposely meant to end their life…I’ve never felt any remorse from her for it.”
Smith’s attorney Tommy A. Thomas argued before the board that while the crime was horrific, she had serious depression that “snowballed” into a tragedy.
He said she deserves parole, but added, “I don’t think she will ever be able to forgive herself.”
Tommy Pope was lead prosecutor in the Smith case and is the current Speaker Pro Tem of South Carolina’s House. He sharply disagreed that Smith deserves parole. Advertisement
“Susan always focuses on Susan,” he said.
Smith first falsely claimed she was carjacked by a Black man near Union, S.C., in 1994. She later confessed after a nine-day search by law enforcement and volunteers to watching as the boys died in the submerged car.
Prosecutors contended her motive was a relationship with a wealthy man who broke off the relationship because he didn’t want children. Her defense lawyers argued Smith was sexually assaulted by her stepfather and was in a mental breakdown when she killed Michael and Alex.
Pope believes she is not remorseful and should serve out her life sentence.
“She’s not focused on remorse for the lives she took,” Pope said. “I think she needs to continue to serve her sentence and serve it out forward.”
Prosecutors had sought the death penalty, but Smith was sentenced to life in prison.
Just 7% of parole requests were granted in South Carolina in 2023, according to the Prison Policy Initiative.
As an inmate, Smith was disciplined in 2000 for having sex with two prison guards. Correctional officers Lt. Houston Cagle and Capt. Alfred R. Rowe Jr. were convicted of having sex with an inmate.
There were also several drug use and self-mutilation incidents. Smith also violated prison policy by communicating with a documentarian in August who allegedly paid her. Advertisement
Smith was found with a razor in prison in 1997.
In a 2015 letter to the Columbia, S.C., newspaper The State, Smith said “I am not the monster society thinks I am. I am far from it.”
She claimed, “Something went very wrong that night. I was not myself.”
She claimed she loved the toddlers she killed and had no motive because the killings were unplanned.
