Susan Smith

Susan Leigh Smith (née Vaughan) is an American woman convicted of murdering her two young sons in South Carolina in 1994.

Susan Leigh Smith (née Vaughan) is an American woman convicted of murdering her two young sons in South Carolina in 1994. She initially claimed a carjacking had occurred but later confessed to driving her car into a lake with her children inside. She was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 30 years and was denied parole in November 2024.

Background

Susan Leigh Vaughan was born in 1971 in Union, South Carolina. She later became known as Susan Smith after her marriage and was a young mother at the time of the crimes.

1994 murders

On October 25, 1994, Smith’s two sons died after her car rolled into a lake with them inside. She initially claimed a Black man had carjacked her vehicle, but investigators later determined that account was false. Her sons, Michael and Alexander, were found dead in the submerged vehicle still strapped into their car seats.

Trial and sentence

Smith was tried and convicted in July 1995 on two counts of murder. She received a life sentence with the possibility of parole after 30 years rather than the death penalty.

Parole status

Smith first became eligible for parole in 2024 after serving 30 years of her sentence. Her first parole hearing was denied, and she remains incarcerated at Leath Correctional Institution in Greenwood, South Carolina.