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    • Susan Smith, convicted of killing her two sons in 1994, is on probation
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    Susan Smith, convicted of killing her two sons in 1994, is on probation

    Kathleen William Posted on

    Smith was sentenced to life in prison and avoided the death penalty. There have been a number of violations at the prison, including sexual activity with officers in 2000.

    Nearly 30 years after she was convicted of driving her car into a South Carolina lake and drowning her two sons, Susan Smith is up for parole.

    Smith, 53, is serving a life sentence after being convicted in 1995 and escaping the death penalty after a highly publicized trial. Her two children, Michael and Alex, were 3 years and 14 months old, respectively.

    Under South Carolina law at the time, Smith could apply for release from the state after serving 30 years in prison.

    The South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole and Pardons announced Monday that Smith's parole hearing is scheduled for Nov. 20. The hearing is scheduled to take place online, with Smith connecting from prison.

    The lead prosecutor in her trial, Tommy Pope, told USA TODAY that Smith should not be granted parole.

    “I believe in truth in sentencing for everyone and I think the verdict should be exactly what it was, what the jury returned, which was that she would spend the rest of her natural life in prison,” said Pope, who is now a Republican, is Speaker Pro Tem of the South Carolina House of Representatives.

    Pope confirmed that he and the boys' father, David Smith, plan to testify before the parole board to argue against Smith's release. Pope believes Smith has felt no remorse for the murder in his nearly three decades behind bars.

    “What I would like to convey to the parole board is that Susan Smith was not thinking about Michael and Alex,” he said. “Susan Smith focused on what was best for Susan, and she obviously did that from day one when she committed this crime.”

    USA TODAY was unable to locate an attorney currently representing Smith.

    An internationally known case

    Smith became infamous in 1994 when she said her car was stolen late at night near Union, South Carolina. She said an African American man took her car with her two children in it.

    For nine days she begged for the return of her two children, but it was later discovered that both her car and her children were at the bottom of a nearby lake. She then confessed to making up the story and letting her car roll down a boat ramp and into the lake.

    “She led people for so many days pouring out her heart to help find Michael and Alex,” Pope said. “In this context, I was the attorney, the district attorney, and I made the decision to seek the death penalty.”

    The case also occurred around the same time as the OJ Simpson trial, another media circus.

    “The OJ case was really the first media-intensive introduction to the courtroom, to the criminal justice system that people had. The Smith case kind of ended up in the middle,” Pope said.

    Pope said the presiding judge in Smith's case did not allow cameras in the courtroom, but it still became part of the national conversation.

    Smith has a history of prison violations

    Smith compiled a long list of prison violations. Those have drawn disciplinary action from the South Carolina Department of Corrections, reported the Greenville News, part of the USA TODAY Network.

    Smith was disciplined for communicating with a documentary filmmaker about her crimes, which violates corrections policy, according to Chrysti Shain, a spokeswoman for the department. Smith was charged with the violation on August 26, found guilty on October 3 and lost her phone, tablet and cafeteria privileges for 90 days.

    In 2000, Smith was also found to have committed sexual acts with two correctional officers during her time at the Women's Correctional Center in Columbia, South Carolina. Both officers involved were fired and Smith was transferred to another facility.

    She was also punished several times for self-inflicted mutilation or injury to an inmate's body and for drug use.

    Contributor: Terry Benjamin II, Greenville News

    Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a featured news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him at [email protected] and follow him on X @fern_cerv_.

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    Kathleen William
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