Susan Smith Denied Parole 30 Years After Drowning Her Two Sons

The South Carolina mother, convicted of killing her young children in 1994, was unanimously denied release at her first parole hearing.

Susan Smith, now 53, confessed in 1994 to killing her sons, Michael, 3, and Alex, 14 months, by rolling her car into a lake while they were strapped in their car seats.
Smith initially claimed a Black man carjacked her vehicle, a false accusation that perpetuated harmful racial stereotypes and misled investigators for nine days.
The parole board unanimously rejected her plea, citing opposition from the victims' family, prosecutors, and law enforcement, as well as the severity of her crime.
Smith's defense pointed to untreated mental health issues and her troubled past, including abuse and trauma, as contributing factors to her actions.
The case remains a true-crime touchstone, with Smith eligible for another parole hearing in two years under South Carolina law.