Paul Flores, who was convicted last fall for the murder of Cal Poly freshman Kristin Smart in 1996, has been hospitalized following an attack in prison, as confirmed by his attorney, Harold Mesick, to KTLA and citing a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation official.
Flores was taken to the hospital after he was attacked at Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga, where he had been transferred less than a week prior while he awaits appeal for his murder conviction.
In October 2022, Flores was convicted for the murder of Smart following a high-profile trial that brought to a close one of California’s Central Coast’s most notorious unsolved crimes.
Smart was 19 years old when she disappeared from Cal Poly’s campus in San Luis Obispo on May 25, 1996. Flores, a fellow student at the time, was the last known person to see Smart alive after an off-campus party.
Although Smart’s body was never found, Paul and his father, Ruben, were arrested in April 2021 in connection with her death. Paul was accused of killing Smart in his dorm room during an attempted rape, and his father was accused of helping conceal the crime for years.
Ruben Flores was charged as an accessory but was found not guilty in a concurrent trial in Monterey County.
Paul Flores’ condition is unclear following the prison attack. He was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison and is eligible for parole in 2037.
This incident brings to light the potential dangers faced by inmates within the prison system, even as they serve their sentences for their respective crimes.