Susan Smith denied parole 30 years after killing her 2 young sons

COLUMBIA, S.C. (TCN) -- The South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services reached a decision Wednesday, Nov. 20, regarding Susan Smith’s release from prison.

The committee denied Smith’s appeal following a lengthy hearing in which Smith appeared via Zoom from prison. ABC News reports Smith will be eligible for parole hearings every two years because she served her minimum 30 years in her life sentence for killing her two sons, 3-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alex.

Smith said at the 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." She apologized to the first responders who found her boys still strapped into their car seats in the bottom of a lake, adding, "I wish I could take that back, I really do."

She said she was "just scared" and "didn’t know how to tell the people that love them that they’d never see them again."

Her ex-husband, David Smith, disagreed with what Smith said because the 30 years she’s spent behind bars has been "15 years per child," which he said was "not enough."

David Smith continued, "She came pretty close to causing me to end my life because of the grief that she brought upon me."

He said he would attend her parole hearings every two years "to ensure that their death doesn’t go in vain."

According to ABC News, David Smith’s current wife told the board, "Michael and Alex didn’t get a chance at life. They were forced the death penalty."

Smith’s attorney argued she suffered from "untreated mental health" problems, including depression after she gave birth to Alex.

WCSC-TV reports David Smith shared, "God gives us free choice, and she made free choice that night to end their life. This wasn’t a tragic mistake, wasn’t something that she didn’t mean to do. She purposely meant to end their life. I have never felt any remorse from her for it. She’s never expressed any to me. I’ve never seen it on paper."

Smith killed her sons in 1994 by leaving them strapped in the car and pushing the vehicle into a lake. She reported the boys missing and pleaded with the public for help, saying she had been carjacked and just wanted her boys to come home.

Smith went to trial and was convicted of murder in 1995. A judge sentenced her to life with the possibility of parole.

Tommy Pope, the lead prosecutor in the case at the time, told "True Crime News," "I look at the case itself as a failure on my part because, unfortunately, she did not get the death penalty."

Pope said he believed Smith’s defense team did a "tremendous job. They worked the public opinion, the worked the media attention to go from Susan the monster to Susan the victim." They said Smith was still dealing with being sexually abused as a child and had untreated mental illness. Smith was having an affair with another man, and he reportedly told her that her sons prevented them from being together.

While behind bars, Smith had sexual relationships with guards and used drugs.

David Smith said in an interview with Court TV, "I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure you stay behind bars."

Watch the video above for the "True Crime News" coverage on Smith’s case.

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