COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) 鈥� A parole board decided unanimously Wednesday that should remain in prison, despite her plea that God has forgiven her for killing her two young sons 30 years ago by rolling her car into a South Carolina lake while they were strapped in their car seats.
It was the first parole hearing for Smith, 53, who is serving a life sentence after a jury convicted her of murder but decided to spare her of the death penalty. Under state law at the time, she is eligible for a parole hearing every two years now that she has spent 30 years behind bars.
Smith made her case by video link from prison. When she began to speak, she started to say she was 鈥渧ery sorry,鈥� then broke down in tears and bowed her head.
鈥淚 know what I did was horrible,鈥� Smith said, pausing and then continuing with a wavering voice. 鈥淎nd I would give anything so I could change it.鈥�
The parole board asked Smith about the law enforcement resources used to try to locate her children. In reply, she told the board she was 鈥渏ust scared鈥� and 鈥渄idn鈥檛 know how to tell them.鈥�
In her final statements, Smith appealed to her Christian faith, saying, 鈥淕od is a big part of my life.鈥� God has forgiven her, Smith said. 鈥淚 ask that you show that kind of mercy, as well,鈥� she said.
Prosecutors have long said that Smith killed 3-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alex because a man she was having an affair with suggested the boys were the reason they didn鈥檛 have a future together.
A group of about 15 people urged against parole. They included her ex-husband and the father of the boys, David Smith; his family members; prosecutors; and law enforcement officials. Along with a few others, David Smith had a photo of Michael and Alex pinned to his suit jacket.
He struggled to get out words at first, pausing several times to compose himself. Susan Smith had 鈥渇ree choice,鈥� he said, and his children鈥檚 deaths weren鈥檛 a 鈥渢ragic mistake.鈥�
He said he has never seen Susan Smith express remorse toward him. 鈥淪he changed my life for the rest of my life that night,鈥� he said.
鈥淚鈥檓 asking that you please, deny her parole today, and hopefully in the future, but specifically today,鈥� he said, adding that he plans to attend each parole hearing to make sure Michael and Alex aren鈥檛 forgotten.
A decision to grant parole requires a two-thirds vote of board members present at the hearing, according to the state Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services. Parole in South Carolina is granted only about 8% of the time and is less likely with an inmate鈥檚 first appearance before the board, in notorious cases or when prosecutors and the families of victims are opposed.
Before Smith testified, she stoically listened to a statement from her attorney, Tommy Thomas. He called her situation one about 鈥渢he dangers of untreated mental health.鈥� She had several mental health issues as a teenager that went unchecked to produce 鈥渉orrendous results,鈥� Thomas said. He also referenced that she had no criminal history before her conviction, making her 鈥渓ow risk鈥� to the public.
The board鈥檚 decision was the one David Smith had hoped for, he said in a news conference following the hearing. "In two more years, we鈥檒l go through this again,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut at least I know, for now, she鈥檒l still be behind bars.鈥�
The family and prosecution had been 鈥渃autiously optimistic," former prosecutor Tommy Pope said, because Susan Smith has continually demonstrated that it鈥檚 鈥渁lways been about Susan.鈥�
鈥淚 believe Susan is the same woman she was 30 years ago when she laughed in the courtroom when the jury wasn鈥檛 in and cried as soon as the jury comes in,鈥� Pope said.
Smith made international headlines in October 1994 when she said she was carjacked late at night near the city of Union and that a Black man drove away with her sons inside. The claims by Smith, who is white, played into a centuries-old racist trope of Black men being a danger to white women and stoked concerns about crime that were prevalent in 1990s America and remain so today.
For nine days, Smith made numerous and sometimes tearful pleas asking that Michael and Alex be returned safely. The whole time, the at the bottom of nearby John D. Long Lake, authorities said.
Investigators said Smith鈥檚 story didn鈥檛 add up. Carjackers usually just want a vehicle, so investigators asked why would they let Smith out but not her kids. The traffic light where Smith said she had stopped when her car was taken would only be red if another car was waiting to cross, and Smith said no other cars were around. Other bits and pieces of the story did not make sense.
Smith ultimately confessed to letting her car roll down a boat ramp and into the lake. A re-creation by investigators showed it took six minutes for the Mazda to dip below the surface, while cameras inside the vehicle showed water pouring in through the vents and steadily rising. The boys鈥� bodies were found dangling upside-down in their car seats, one tiny hand pressed against a window,
Prosecutors said Smith was having an affair with the wealthy son of the owner of the business she worked at. He broke it off because she had the two young sons.
Smith鈥檚 lawyers said she , was suffering a mental breakdown and intended to die alongside her children but left the car at the last moment.
Smith鈥檚 crime traumatized not only her family, prosecutor Kevin Brackett said, but also people in South Carolina and around the country who 鈥渇ixated鈥� on this 鈥済lobal sensation.鈥� Her allegation that a Black man kidnapped her children also led to other Black men being wrongfully pulled over as police searched for a 鈥渇ictitious man,鈥� he said.
The 1995 trial of the young mother became a national sensation and a true-crime touchstone. Her lawyers worked to save her life, noting that Smith's father had killed himself and that her stepfather, along with the owner of the business where she worked, was having sex with her.
From prison, Smith can make phone calls and answer text messages, many from journalists and interested men. Those messages and phone calls were released under South Carolina鈥檚 open records act, something Smith didn鈥檛 initially realize could happen. She said the invasion of her privacy upset her, along with the public revelation that she was juggling conversations about the future with several men.
Some men know why she is famous. Others are more coy. One told her he was going to use the dates of her birthday and those of her dead sons when he played the Powerball lottery. Others chatted about their lives and sports. Many promised her a home on the outside and a happy life.
Smith also had . And she violated prison policies by giving out contact information for friends, family members and her ex-husband to a documentary producer who discussed paying her for her help, according to Pope, the former prosecutor.
Jeffrey Collins And Makiya Seminera, The Associated Press
