A South Carolina woman who pleaded guilty to drowning her two sons 30 years ago was denied parole after her initial hearing Wednesday.
Susan Smith, 53, was convicted of murdering her boys by tying them in car seats and letting the car roll into a lake. The 1994 case involved many.
Smith, who has spent 30 years in prison, apologized to the seven-person parole board for the murders and asked to be released.
“I know what I did was wrong,” he said. “And I would give anything to change it.”
The father of her children and the prosecutor of the case also spoke to the board, asking them to keep her in custody.
David Smith, the boys’ father, told the parole board that 30 years in prison is not a harsh sentence for Smith.
“That’s only 15 years for each child, their children,” he said. “That’s not enough.”
Prosecutors argued during the trial that Smith killed three-year-old Michael and 1-year-old Alex after the man she was dating told her that his sons were the reason the two did not have a future together.
Prosecutor Tommy Pope said Smith had made “a terrible and terrible decision to choose a man over his family”.
“Susan has always been focused on Susan,” she said.
During the trial, Smith first said that he was carjacked at night and a man drove his car. While he was publicly pleading for the safe return of his sons, they were at the bottom of a nearby lake.
But he finally pleaded guilty.
Defense attorneys said he was mentally disturbed and wanted to die with his children but left the car at the last minute.
Smith was convicted of murder, but under South Carolina law at the time he was eligible for parole every two years of his 30-year prison term.
Smith will need two-thirds of the board members present to vote for his release, according to the Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services.
Source link
