A notorious South Carolina woman serving life in prison for drowning her two young sons back in 1994 is making a plea for freedom.
Convicted of murdering children Susan Smith he has again applied for parole, Us Weekly confirmed by officials of the Department of Corrections.
This is the second time he has sought parole.
The first was set for 2024, but the South Carolina Probation and Parole Board unanimously denied his request.
Smith, 54, was convicted in 1995 of drowning her boys Michael, 3, and Alex, 14 months, by rolling her car into a pond in Union with her sons inside.
The case made national headlines after Smith appeared on local television news nine days in a row, pleading for the safe return of her sons. He also said that his car was stolen by a black man on October 25, 1994, while his boys were secured in the back seat.
He eventually agreed and the boys’ remains were later removed from John D. Long Lake.
Smith has a parole hearing scheduled for November 19, 2026. If denied, he will need to wait until 2028 to apply for a third parole.
“I want to say how sorry I am,” he said during a hearing in 2024. “I know what I did was wrong and I would give anything to go back and change it.
Smith had planned the killings as an act of suicide but told investigators that his body refused to leave the car.
Her ex-husband and father of the boys, David Smithchallenged his request for parole, saying he needed to die in prison.
“God gave us free will. He made a free choice that night to end their lives,” said David Smith. “He changed my whole life that night.”
Only six of the 471 letters and emails received by the parole board before the 2024 hearing supported Susan’s release, the department said.
His lawyer, Tommy Thomashe said during a 2024 hearing that Smith’s murderous actions were the direct result of untreated mental illness caused by his father’s suicide when he was only 6 years old.
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Since his first incarceration at the Camille Griffin Graham Correctional Institution in Columbia, Smith has never been a role model for an inmate.
He has previous convictions for mutilation and drug possession as well as using another inmate’s pin number to communicate with the outside world.
He was recently disciplined on August 26, 2024, for speaking to the producers of a documentary film about his case.
If you or someone you know is emotionally distressed or thinking about suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
