Union Co. woman who drowned her children will get parole hearing this year

UNION COUNTY, S.C. (WSPA) – Susan Smith, a Union County woman who garnered national attention for the drowning of her two children 30 years ago, is eligible for a parole hearing this year, according to officials.

The state Department Probation, Parole and Pardon Services confirmed on Wednesday that Smith, who was convicted of murder in 1994, will get a hearing with a parole board later this year.

Smith became the focus of national news stories 30 years ago when she reported her sons, three-year-old Michaela and 14-month-old Alexander, had been kidnapped by a Black man during a kidnapping, then nine days later admitting she let her car roll into a nearby lake with the boys inside.

She was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 30 years. She is currently incarcerated at Leath Correctional Institution in Greenwood.

According to prison records, Smith has had no disciplinary issues since 2015, and in recent years has earned multiple work credits as a landscape laborer, office clerk, teacher assistant and in other roles.

In April 2014, she became a wardkeeper assistant in the prison.

No date has been set for Smith’s parole hearing. She does become eligible for parole beginning Monday, November 4. An official with the Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services said she is expected to appear before the board before the end of the year.

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