Three decades before Lindsay Clancy killed her three children, a mother in South Carolina drowned her 2 sons in a lake while battling postpartum depression

On Oct. 25, 1994, Susan Smith contacted the Union County Sheriff’s Office in South Carolina to report that she had been carjacked by a man who fled the scene with her two young sons in the backseat.

Her story soon became nationwide news as she appeared on local and then national news programs to make public pleas begging for the safe return of her sons and asking that anyone who might have information on the whereabouts of Michael, 3, and 14-month-old Alexander come forward and speak with deputies.

Then, on Nov. 3, 1994, the case took a sudden and unexpected turn when Smith, now 54, confessed that she had strapped her two sons into their car seats and allowed her vehicle to roll into John D. Long Lake, drowning the toddlers.

Susan Smith at her trial in 1995.

Four days after confessing to the deaths of her two sons, Smith was charged with their murders.

Her trial began the following year, with prosecutors arguing that Smith had been having an affair with a married man who did not want children, and that after the two split Smith killed the children to try and win him back.

Smith’s lawyers painted a much different story, however, claiming that their client had been suffering from postpartum depression after the birth of her son Alexander.

They also pointed out at trial that Smith had previously struggled with her mental health and attempted to take her own life on two separate occasions, along with the fact that she had told police officers after confessing to the crime that she was not in the right state of mind.

Smith’s father died by suicide when she was just 6 years old, and the man her mother remarried later admitted to molesting Smith when she was just a teenager.

The defense said that Smith had planned to take her own life as well on the night in question but somehow willed herself out of the vehicle as it slipped into the lake with her two children.

In the end, a jury convicted her of murder.

Jurors did not vote in favor of sentencing Smith to death, and the judge ultimately sentenced the mother to a term of life in prison with the possibility of parole after 30 years.

Thirty years have since passed, and in 2024 Smith applied for parole but was ultimately rejected.

Unlike Andrea Yates and Lindsay Clancy, two mothers also charged with murdering their children while struggling with postpartum mental health issues, Smith did not have the support of her now ex-husband and the father of her children, David Smith.

At Smith’s first parole hearing, David told the board that his wife should not be released, stating: “It wasn’t something that she didn’t mean to do. She purposely meant to end their life. I never have felt any remorse from her for it. She never expressed any to me. I’ve never seen it on paper.”

He also told the board: “I will be here every two years going forward to ensure that their death doesn’t go in vain.”

His wife Tiffany also appeared, telling the board: “Michael and Alex didn’t get a chance at life. They were forced the death penalty.”

An emotional Smith wiped away tears while admitting that she knew what she had done was wrong.

“I wish I could take that back, I really do,” Smith told the board.

Her lawyer pointed out that Smith was struggling with mental health and noted that she had no criminal history prior to the deaths of her sons.

In the end, the board rejected her bid for parole in a unanimous vote.

Smith will get her second chance at parole in just two months, at a time when the topic of postpartum depression is front of mind for millions of Americans following the Lindsay Clancy trial.

Source: https://people.com/susan-smith-drowned-2-sons-got-life-when-jurors-rejected-postpartum-depression-defense-12116691