Susan Smith appears in front of parole board 30 years after killing her 2 sons: ‘What I did was horrible’
Susan Smith, a South Carolina woman who admitted to drowning her two children 30 years ago, appeared before a parole board for the first time on Wednesday to make a case for her freedom.
“I know that what I did was horrible. And I would give anything if I could go back and change it,” Smith, overcome with emotion, told the parole board via Zoom. “I love Michael and Alex with all my heart.”
Susan Smith appears during her parole hearing on Nov. 20, 2024 on a zoom call in South Carolina.
POOL
On Oct. 25, 1994, Smith, then 23 years old, strapped her sons — 3-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alexander — into their car seats and let the car roll into a lake near her home.
At first, Smith lied to police and said a Black man carjacked her and kidnapped her sons. Smith’s husband believed her, and the young parents appeared on TV to plead for the suspect to bring the boys home.
On Nov. 3, 1994, police confronted Susan Smith about her story, and she admitted to the killings.
In this 1995 file photo, Michael Daniel Smith and Alexander Tyler Smith are shown on a sign as people place flowers near the lake where the boys were drowned.
William Campbell/Sygma via Getty Images, FILE
In this 1994 booking photo, Susan Smith is shown.
Brooks Kraft/Sygma via Getty Images, FILE
The board mentioned how her case took resources away from the law enforcement community who searched for her sons. Asked what she would say to the responders, Smith said, “I’m sorry that I put them through that.”
“I wish I could take that back, I really do,” Smith, now 53, said. “I didn’t lie to get away with it. … I was just scared. I didn’t know how to tell the people that love them that they’d never see them again.”
“I am a Christian and God is a big part of my life. And I know he has forgiven me,” Smith said.
In this 1994 file photo, law enforcement officials, one clad in scuba gear, talk as they comb the water’s bottom for the car of Susan Smith, who admitted to drowning her sons Michael & Alex in her car in John D. Long Lake.
Thomas S. England/Getty Images, FILE
Tommy Pope, the prosecutor in Smith’s case, asked the board to deny parole, saying, “Susan has always focused on Susan.”
“Susan made a horrible, horrible choice to choose a man over her family,” Pope said. “If she could have put David in the car, he would’ve been there, too.”
“For the crime she committed … that punishment has not been achieved yet,” Pope said.
Susan Smith’s ex-husband, David Smith, will also address the parole board on Wednesday.
Grief-stricken David Smith (wearing red tie & pic of sons on lapel) weeps amidst a crowd of mourners as he leaves funeral for his kids Michael & Alex.
Thomas S England/Getty Images
At Smith’s trial, prosecutors argued the young mom was having an affair and said her boyfriend broke off the relationship because of her children.
Smith’s defense said she planned to die by suicide with her children, but left the car at the last second.
Pope noted Wednesday that “she wasn’t wet, she wasn’t injured” when she ran for help.
The defense also focused on her mental health and her childhood; Smith’s stepfather testified that he sexually abused her for years.
Smith was convicted. She was spared the death penalty and sentenced to life in prison.
Smith is eligible for a parole hearing every two years beginning at the 30-year mark.
This May 24, 2021 image provided by the South Carolina Department of Corrections shows Susan Smith.
South Carolina Department of Corrections via AP, FILE
Susan Smith has faced disciplinary action several times in prison, including for sexual encounters with corrections officers, drug possession and for giving contact information for family and her ex-husband to a documentary producer.
Susan Smith’s attorney, Tommy Thomas, told the parole board this case is about “the dangers of untreated mental health.” He said Smith had undiagnosed depression after her second son was born.
Thomas highlighted that Smith has no prior criminal history, and he said if she’s paroled, she’d live with her brother.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
