Susan Smith’s ex-husband, David Smith, tearfully pleaded that she not be released on parole after being convicted of murdering their two sons in 1994.

During Susan’s release committee hearing on Wednesday, November 20, David shared an emotional statement to the committee, detailing what he has experienced since the tragedy, and why he believes Susan should spend the rest of her life in prison to stay.

“It’s been a tough 30 years,” he began in a video published by WCNC. “I’m not here to talk about what she did in prison. You all have the documents and bills and everything. I’m just here to advocate on behalf of Michael and Alex as their father.”

He added that the crime was “not a tragic mistake” but that Susan deliberately “wanted to end the lives of Michael and Alex.”

“It wasn’t something she didn’t plan to do. She deliberately planned to end their lives. I’ve never regretted it. She never said anything to me about it. I’ve never seen it on paper. David said.

He was overcome with emotion as he opened up about his life after losing his sons, saying he considered ending his own life because of the overwhelming grief.

“She changed my life that night for the rest of my life. What she did, not just Michael and Alex, she came close to making me take my own life because of the grief she had for me But luckily she did.” T.”

“When she was sentenced to life in prison, I, like so many others, including the jury, thought that meant she would be there for the rest of her natural life,” David told the news station ahead of Wednesday’s hearing WYFF.

“It’s different now,” David said on Wednesday. “But at that moment that’s what counts. Ultimately, for me that’s only fifteen years per child. Her own children. It’s just not enough.”

He wept as he begged the board not to grant her parole today or in the future, “but especially today, do not release her.”

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On October 25, 1994, Susan told police that a black man had stolen her car with her and David’s two sons, Michael (3) and Alex (14 months) inside. Over the next nine days, she delivered emotional pleas on national television for her children to return home safely.

However, she later confessed that she had made up the carjacker story and that she had instead rolled her car into a lake with her small children strapped into their car seats. Authorities at the time claimed that Susan committed the crime because she had a husband who did not want children.

Susan was denied parole during Wednesday’s hearing, but she can appear before the commission every two years for her release.

“I miss them very much,” David said of his deceased children. ‘And I love them very much. And I will be here every two years to make sure their deaths are not in vain.”

At a press conference after the hearing, David said, “I haven’t seen any remorse from (Susan),” adding that the parole board “made the right decision.”