On Wednesday morning, Susan Smith, a South Carolina girl, was denied parole after her false claims about killing her two children sharply divided the little town.
Five members of the state Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services ‘ parole board unanimously decided Smith’s rejection. Smith spoke to the table, an independent brain appointed by the governor, via videoconference. Geraldine Miro, a prisoner who had previously been incarcerated in Smith, recused herself while serving as the time governor.
In denying her pardon, board members cited the “nature and sincerity of her murder” and an unpleasant “institution document”.
Some believed that Smith, 53, had been granted parole only 30 years into her two living words for the deaths of her children Michael, 3, and Alex, 14 months. In the lead-up to her hearing, the parole office said that they received 471 mails and letters about Smith’s pardon. Only 6 were in support of her transfer.
In a petition for forgiveness, a wailing Smith said,” I want to say how very sorry I am. If I could get up and change it, I would supply everything because I am aware of what I did.
On Oct. 25, 1994, Smith, only 23, released the clutch of her Mazda Protege and let the car flip backwards into the warm waters of John D. Long Lake in Union County, South Carolina. Michael and Alex were outside.
” This account is really a mental health account”, said Smith’s lawyer, Tommy Thomas, who said that Smith’s activities the day of the killings were driven by neglected mental health issues, including post-partum melancholy. At the age of 6, Smith had repeatedly attempted murder and had never fully recovered from her father’s death, according to Thomas. However, she was unable to receive the care she needed due to the shame surrounding mental health care.
Again, Thomas said, when Smith was hospitalized for mental health motives, her mother told people she had strep. Smith lost touch with reality on the day of the deaths, according to Thomas, and she was unaware of the effects of her activities.
But Smith’s cognitive health did not move the Smith family, Michael and Alex’s family, who opposed her release.
” God gave us free option. She had the option to end her life that day, according to Michael and Alex Smith’s parents, David Smith.
She nearly caused me to end my life that night because of the grief she had inflicted upon me, but thank goodness she did n’t.
A lifestyle sentence must be served in its entirety without the possibility of probation, according to South Carolina’s punishment rules now. However, a life sentence in 1995 was equivalent to a 30-year word.
Had she been paroled,” Finally that’s just 15 times per child, her personal children”, said David Smith. ” It’s just not enough”.
Throughout the reading, little attention was paid not only to Smith’s offences, but even her lies 30 years ago to home and in advertising images, which drew national attention to Union County.
After killing her sons, Smith claimed that she had been carjacked by a Black man in a toboggan-style hat, or beanie, at a red light. The man allegedly demanded her car and shoved a gun in her face, claiming he would n’t hurt her or her boys. Then he sped off with the car’s passengers. Smith pleaded on television for the safe return of her sons over the course of the following days as police and volunteers searched for her children incessantly and racial tensions escalated.
” This was a global sensation”, said Kevin Brackett, the 16th Circuit solicitor who helped prosecute the case as an assistant solicitor. ” This did n’t just traumatize him ( David Smith ), it traumatized Union, it traumatized South Carolina. She had a lie all over the entire county.
How many black men drove red Mazdas around the nation when they were pulled over? Brackett asked.
However, shady law enforcement agents defrauded Smith, who admitted to killing them nine days after reporting her sons missing. In John D. Long Lake, divers discovered the vehicle. Rackett recalled the silence at the time when a tow truck pulled the red car out of the lake and the question that maybe it was a different vehicle.
” I did n’t lie to get away from it, I was just really, really scared”, Smith told the parole board. ” I was unsure of how to tell everyone who loved them that they would never see them again,” I said. I had no idea how to tell David that he would never see his sons again.
But few claim to believe Smith right now.
” She lied and manipulated everybody, the whole world. I believed it myself, I wanted her to be telling the truth. Whatever she told you today I’m sure were lies as well”, said Tiffany Smith, David Smith’s wife.
As obscene details were revealed, the search and Smith’s trial became a media craze. According to Tom Pope, the Republican state representative and York County House Speaker pro tempore, Smith had killed her children to start a relationship with a wealthy man who did n’t want kids.
Pope reiterated this claim at the hearing despite Thomas ‘ claim that it was never proven in court. In Smith’s car was a wedding dress and a wedding album, Pope said. She simply rolled him away; however, if David had been in the car, she would have also rolled him away.
It was revealed that when Susan Smith was 15, she was molested by her stepfather, Beverly Russell, a leader in the local Republican Party, member of the Christian Coalition and a nephew of a governor.
No charges were pressed, but Smith’s parents separated. Smith’s lawyer was ultimately funded by Russell’s mortgage, and according to court testimony, her relationship with Russell lasted with Russell’s death even after she wed David Smith.
At trial, Pope argued unsuccessfully for the death penalty.
People would have anticipated the death penalty if the Black man wearing the toboggan ( hat ) had committed the crime, I firmly believed. If David Smith had committed the crime, people would have expected the death penalty”, Pope said.
” The jury showed her mercy. After the fact, a juror claimed that the death penalty was the more severe.
During her time in prison, Smith has committed multiple infractions, including possession of drugs, using another inmate’s PIN and, most recently, speaking with a documentary company.
However, Thomas aimed to expose Smith’s darker side by highlighting her work as a math tutor, her passion for art, and her involvement with the Jumpstart prison fellowship. Smith would have continued to pursue a degree in Christian counseling and lived with her brother if she had been released.
” I really think Susan is ready for parole now”, said Anne Currie, who, along with her husband, retired Presbyterian pastor Tom Currie, were Smith’s only supporters. She has a supportive and compassionate community around her. She has learned from it and continues to grieve.
Of the seven individuals who spoke out against Smith’s release, none believed that prison would be able to free her in the same way.
She violated nature’s laws by betraying her children. She should’ve been protecting them”, said Brackett. She should n’t be allowed to leave until the last person who is still alive to remember Michael and Alex passes away, which is not likely to happen to her.
Lingering impact
Wednesday’s hearing, heavily attended by media from all around the country, only emphasized how much the Susan Smith case continues to impact and define all who were involved.
According to Pope,” Union will always be the place where Susan Smith murdered her sons.” ” I will always be the Susan Smith prosecutor”.
Many people experience deeper wounds, and pain persists in unexpected locations.
Rebecka Smith French, Susan Smith’s former sister-in-law, said that she looked up to Susan like an older sister and now struggles to form friendships with women. She recently attempted to learn how to scuba dive, telling the parole board that she started freaking out underwater, ripping her mask off, and feeling paralyzed.
” I knew that was the closest I’d ever come across what they ( Michael and Alex ) went through,” Smith French said.
Tiffany Smith described seeing her husband struggle to get out of bed some days and how Savannah, the daughter of two older brothers, had been taken from her as a result.
” It has changed the way we look at life, it has changed the way we trust people”, said Tiffany Smith. It would be best if Susan remained behind bars and spent the rest of her life to give this family some peace.
Because she is serving a sentence for a violent crime, Smith will not be able to appear before the parole board for another two years, as the majority of inmates only appear once per year.
” I miss them very much. I love them very much”, said David Smith. I’ll be here to make sure their passing is n’t in vain going forward every two years.
___
© 2024 The State
Distributed by , Tribune Content Agency, LLC
