Susan Smith, the South Carolina woman convicted of drowning her two young sons in 1994, has been denied parole in a unanimous vote. Smith, now 52, was sentenced to life in prison for killing Michael, 3, and Alex, 14 months, by rolling her car into a lake to preserve an extramarital affair with a man who didn’t want children. Her initial claim that an armed Black man had carjacked her ignited racial tensions before her confession nine days later. Smith appeared emotional during her first parole hearing, held remotely from Leath Correctional Institution. "I know that what I did was horrible, and I would do anything to go back and change it," she said. Her attorney argued untreated mental health issues and depression contributed to the crime, describing it as "a mental health story." Despite this, the parole board cited the gravity of her crimes and her unfavorable institutional record, which includes drug use and misconduct, in denying her release. Smith will be eligible for parole again in two years. Former prosecutor Tommy Pope and her ex-husband David Smith strongly opposed parole. "This wasn’t a mistake," David Smith told the board. "She purposely ended their lives." Solicitor Kevin Brackett added, "She should never be released until the last person who remembers Michael and Alex is gone."