Man Convicted Of Brutally Murdering 4-Year-Old Boy In 1993 Granted Parole

A 41-year-old man, who was 13 when he murdered a 4-year-old boy in New York in 1993, was granted parole after 11 hearings.

The Department of Corrections and Community Supervision said in a statement that Eric Smith faced the Board of Parole on Oct. 5 and was granted release from Nov. 17, reported Fox 2 Detroit.

In 1994, he was convicted of second-degree murder for luring Derrick Robie, 4, into a forest near the victim's house and attacking him in the head with a rock. According to The Sun, Smith also sexually abused the boy's body with a stick. The incident took place in August 1993, when the victim was heading to summer camp at a park in the Steuben County village of Savona, New York all by himself.

On Aug. 8, 1993, the child killer confessed to his mom that he murdered the young boy. Back in the nineties, the case was widely talked about because of the tender age of the suspect and the victim, along with a photo of Smith in court, wearing a Bugs Bunny sweatshirt. He was sentenced to nine years to life behind bars.

Following his arrest, Smith had to go through a medical testing in order to find out a motive. A defense psychiatrist diagnosed him with intermittent explosive disorder, which makes people unpredictable and violent, and tried to argue that he was mentally unwell. But according to the prosecution's expert, the disorder was a rare one that was hardly seen at Smith's age.

At a parole hearing that took place in 2014, he said that he was "bullied by his own family" and kids for the way he looked, and told the board that he took out his rage at the young boy. He added that despite his "violent" and "horrendous" attacks, he believed the child would get up and report about the incident.

In 2014, he reportedly said that the boy didn't deserve anything that he did to him and that "no one deserved that kind of violence. What I did to him was brutal." He added, "I took my anger and frustration and rage out on him."

The victim's parents, Dale and Doreen Robie, opposed release of Smith, who is housed at the Woodbourne Correctional Facility, whenever it was previously considered. Dale said that his family members don't want to share their thoughts on the latest decision.