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COLUMBIA, S.C. (BFMG) — Susan Smith, the South Carolina mother convicted of drowning her two young sons in 1994, was denied parole Wednesday in a unanimous decision by the state parole board.
Smith, 53, has served 30 years of a life sentence and was seeking release for the first time. During the hearing, Smith expressed remorse, saying, “I am a Christian, and I know that God has forgiven me,” and pleaded for mercy. She also attributed a recent disciplinary action in prison—related to attempts to profit from her notoriety—to misplaced trust in a filmmaker.
“I trusted the wrong person,” Smith said.
The parole board denied her release after hearing arguments against her parole, including testimony from her ex-husband, David Smith. He urged the board to keep her incarcerated, stating, “Thirty years is not enough. That’s only 15 years per child—her own children. That’s just not enough.”
Tommy Pope, the prosecutor in Smith’s original trial, argued against parole, calling her actions “calculated” and irreparably harmful.
“She should not be released until every living person who remembers Michael and Alex is dead—and that won’t happen in her lifetime,” Pope said.
Smith’s attorney argued her actions were the result of untreated mental health issues stemming from childhood trauma, including her father’s suicide when she was 6 years old. He described the case as “a mental health story,” suggesting her mental state, rather than her relationship with a man, was a major factor in her crime.
Smith gained national attention in 1994 when she falsely claimed her sons had been kidnapped during a carjacking by a Black man. After nine days of public pleas, she confessed to rolling her car into John D. Long Lake with her sons, Michael, 3, and Alex, 14 months, strapped inside.
Her incarceration has been marked by several disciplinary actions, including drug possession and inappropriate relationships with prison staff. Most recently, she faced sanctions for attempting to profit from her case through communications with a documentary filmmaker.
Smith will be eligible to reapply for parole in November 2026.
