this story Is hard for me to tell you!!

In 1994, Susan Smith, a young mother from South Carolina, killed her two sons by pushing her car into a lake drowning them. Drown means to kill by keeping someone under water. Her sons, Michael (3 years old) and Alex (14 months old), were inside. At first, she lied, saying a man had stolen her car and taken her children. After nine days, she confessed to the crime. People were very shocked and sad about what happened.

Pharaoh and his army was drowned in the sea.

Susan said she killed her sons because she wanted to start a new life with a rich boyfriend. He did not want children, so she thought they were in the way. This made her do something terrible. She thought that killing her sons would make him love her. Many people think this was a very selfish and cruel choice. When someone is selfish they only think about what they want or need.

The customer looked surprised when he was called selfish for taking so much food for himself.

Susan has been in prison for 30 years. She is serving a life sentence but can now ask for parole. Parole is when a prisoner asks to be let go early from prison. She says she is sorry for what she did and has asked for forgiveness. She told the parole board that she has changed and believes God has forgiven her. But some people think she has not really changed.

Susan hopes that she will be released early on parole so she can start her life again.

Michael and Alex’s father, David Smith, spoke at the parole hearing. A hearing is an official meeting to collect facts about a problem. He said Susan’s crime caused him a lot of pain and almost made him lose hope in life. He asked the parole board to keep her in prison because her crime was very serious. Many people agreed with him.

The people listened closely to Susan Smith at the hearing.

Susan was denied. In this sentence, to deny means not to allow someone to have or do something. The parole board decided that Susan Smith should stay in prison. They think her crime was too big to forgive, and she has not shown enough real change. Many people believe this is the right decision, as her sons were the real victims.

The lifeguard denied swimmers entry to the pool because of the bad weather.

Let’s hang out and talk about this one. What do you think? Do you think she has “paid her debt to society” and should be let out of prison or should she do more time?