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A woman who crashed her car into a lake, killing her two sons, will be eligible for parole next month.

Susan Smith is serving a life sentence after a jury decided not to sentence her to death in her 1995 murder trial. According to the law at the time, she could apply for release after 30 years in prison.

Smith, 53, is up for parole next month, nearly 30 years after she was convicted of driving her car into a South Carolina lake and drowning her two children, who were strapped into their car seats.

Her hearing is scheduled for Nov. 20, the state Department of Probation, Parole and Pardons said Monday. Parole hearings in South Carolina are being held virtually, with the inmate connecting via video call from prison.

Smith made international headlines in October 1994 when she said she was ambushed late at night near the town of Union and a man drove off with her sons. Smith, who is white, said the carjacker was black.

For nine days, Smith made numerous and sometimes tearful pleas for the safe return of three-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alex.

But all the while, the boys and Smith’s car were at the bottom of nearby John D. Long Lake, authorities said.

Investigators said Smith’s story didn’t add up. Car thieves usually just want a vehicle, so investigators asked why they should let Smith out but not her children. The traffic light where Smith said she was stopped when her car was stolen would only be red if there was another car waiting at the intersection and Smith said there were no other cars nearby. And other parts of the story didn’t make sense.

Smith admitted to letting her car roll down a boat ramp and into the lake. A recreation by investigators showed it took six minutes for the Mazda to submerge beneath the surface, while cameras inside the vehicle showed water entering through the vents and steadily rising. The boys’ bodies were found dangling upside down in their car seats, a tiny hand pressed against a window,

Prosecutors said Smith was having an affair with the wealthy son of the owner of the company where she worked. He broke off the relationship because she had two young sons and Smith decided that was how she would solve the problem.

Prosecutors sought the death penalty, and the young mother’s trial became a national sensation and a real touchstone of crime, even if it was not televised by a judge who worried about the impact the cameras would have on her had the parallel murder trial of OJ Simpson. A jury convicted Smith but decided she did not deserve the death penalty.

Smith’s lawyers said she was remorseful, had a nervous breakdown and wanted to die with her children, but left the car at the last moment.

Parole is granted in only about 8% of cases in South Carolina and is less likely when an inmate appears before the board for the first time, in notorious cases or when prosecutors and victims’ families oppose it. Smith falls into all of these categories.

“The jury believed she was facing a life sentence and that she should serve it,” said Tommy Pope, the lead prosecutor in Smith’s trial and now the Republican pro tem speaker of the South Carolina House of Representatives.

“Secondly, I would point to her behavior in prison to show, unfortunately, what a juror had hoped, that she would be remorseful and think of those children. She has proven that all she thinks about is Susan Smith,” Pope said.

Smith’s 30 years in prison were also eventful. South Carolina prison rules do not allow broadcast interviews, but Smith has frequently written to reporters, true crime enthusiasts and potential suitors, who then speak publicly about the letters.

She unsuccessfully tried to appeal her conviction, claiming her husband David Smith abused her. He strongly denied this and authorities said there was no evidence.

“Over the next 30 years – again, it’s hard to believe it happened so quickly – she had sex with guards. She has received attention for her social media capabilities. “She has sugar daddies who can’t wait for her to get out and are helping to support her,” Pope said.

Pope said David Smith plans to join him to protest his ex-wife’s parole.

In an interview with Court TV, David Smith said he has a hard time remembering his sons. He said that although he had forgiven Susan Smith, that did not change the fact that she killed her children and was serving more than 30 years in prison for it.

“You have no idea how much damage you have caused to so many people,” David Smith said in the Court TV interview. “To the best of my ability, I will do everything in my power to ensure that you remain behind bars.”

Pope wants to tell the parole board that when the jury rejected the death penalty, they thought a life sentence meant the rest of her life and didn’t believe she could be released after just 30 years.

Pope expects Susan Smith to make her own case to the parole board. He believes she will try to use the same compassion and difficulty of believing a mother would do something like that to her children to convince the board to grant her parole.

“She’s rehearsed what she’s going to say to the parole board for 30 years,” Pope said.