Editing Susan Smith (section)

==Family background==
Smith's father died by suicide when she was six years old, and Smith herself attempted suicide at age 13. Her mother then married Beverly C. Russell Jr. who later was revealed to have [[child sexual abuse|molested]] Smith when she was a teenager. Russell was a local businessman who later gained prominence in South Carolina's Republican Party and the [[Christian Coalition of America|Christian Coalition]]. Both Smith and Russell have stated that sexual relations between them continued until six months before the murders.<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Elizabeth|last=Gleick|url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,134423,00.html|title=Sex, betrayal, and murder|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|date=June 24, 2001|access-date=May 12, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first=Robert|last=Scheer|url= https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-08-01-me-30101-story.html|title=The River of Hypocrisy Runs Wide and Deep : The Smith case is remarkable, too, for its rank immorality|newspaper=[[LA Times]]|date=August 1, 1995|access-date=May 12, 2024}}</ref>

After graduating from [[Secondary school|high school]] in 1989, Smith made a second suicide attempt after a married man she was in a relationship with ended their [[affair]].<ref name="trutv.com">{{cite web|first=Rachel |last=Pergament |url=http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/famous/smith/phase_10.html|title=Susan Smith Child Murderer or Victim? |website=Crime Library |publisher= [[TruTV]] |access-date=February 24, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111229153514/http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/famous/smith/phase_10.html |archive-date=December 29, 2011 }}</ref> She married David Smith, and they had two sons.