Woman Who Strapped Her Sons In The Car Seat And Let Them Roll Into A Lake, Is Eligible For Parole
Killer mom eligible for parole
A South Carolina killer mom is back up for parole after she was denied for the same in November 2024. Susan Smith, 53, is serving a life sentence for killing her two young sons in a lake in 1994.
She has now served 30 years in prison and is once again eligible for parole. In 2024, she was up for release for the first time. However, she was denied after the board cited the nature and seriousness of the crime. Smith’s institutional record of offences was also mentioned.
Susan Smith’s Parole Request Was Previously Denied
Susan Smith is eligible parole again after being denied once
During her parole hearing, Smith said, “I know that what I did was horrible…I’m sorry that I put them through that...I wish I could take that back, I really do... I was just scared.” In addition, her disciplinary record during her time in prison also hurt her chances of parole in 2025.
While she had initially said that she “wouldn’t talk” to the media, less than two weeks later in August, Smith contacted a victim or witness and asked them to speak with a documentary filmmaker.
She was convicted of that charge on Oct. 3, 2025. It was the first disciplinary action she had faced in nearly 10 years. According to Chrysti Shain, director of communications for the South Carolina Department of Corrections, if Smith’s parole request is denied again this year, she would be able to apply again in two years. Her next hearing is set for Nov. 19, 2026.
Smith Said She Was ‘Scared’
Susan Smith killed her two sons when she was 22
Smith was incarcerated for a 1994 crime. On October 25 of that year, she brutally killed her two sons, Michael, 3, and Alexander Smith, who was just a 14-month-old. She strapped them in the back seat of her car and then let it roll down a ramp into John D. Long Lake in Union, South Carolina.
According to authorities, it took about six minutes for water to fill the car. Smith, at that time, waited there, watching her sons drown and the car sink to the bottom of the lake.
On July 22, 1995, she was convicted of the murders. Prosecutors wanted her to receive the death penalty, but she was ultimately sentenced to life in prison.
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