Susan Smith Eligible for Parole Again After Drowning Sons in 1994

Susan Smith, the South Carolina woman convicted of drowning her two young sons, is eligible for parole again after a denial last year.

The 53-year-old serves a life sentence for the 1994 murders. She was denied parole in November 2024 following 30 years in prison. Smith now seeks release under her 30-years-to-life term.

On Oct. 25, 1994, the then-22-year-old strapped 3-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alexander into her car's back seat. She let the vehicle roll down a boat ramp into John D. Long Lake in Union, South Carolina. Water filled the car over six minutes, drowning the boys before it sank.

A jury convicted Smith of the murders on July 22, 1995. Prosecutors sought the death penalty, but she received life in prison.

Smith's first parole bid came in 2024. The board rejected it, pointing to the crime's nature and her institutional offenses.

"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," she said at the hearing.

Her prison record factored into the 2024 denial and a 2025 hearing postponement. In August 2025, authorities charged her with communicating with a victim or witness by speaking to a documentary filmmaker. This violated rules, coming less than two weeks after she told an unknown man by phone that she "wouldn't talk" to the media.

It marked her first discipline in nearly 10 years. She was convicted of the charge on Oct. 3, 2025, said Chrysti Shain, communications director for the South Carolina Department of Corrections.

If denied this time, Smith can reapply in two years. Her next hearing is Nov. 19, 2026.