Kristin Smart’s killer Paul Flores seriously injured in prison attack: lawyer

The man convicted of Kristin Smart’s 1996 murder was seriously injured after he was attacked inside a California state prison Wednesday, according to this lawyer.

Convicted killer Paul Flores was taken to an outside hospital from Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said.

Details surrounding the attack were unclear.

The 46-year-old is serving 25 years to life for killing Smart in 1996, when they were both college students at California Polytechnic State University.

Flores’ lawyer Harold Mesick said he was notified by corrections officials about the attack, but didn’t know much else.

“I just pray for his recovery,” he said.

The corrections department didn’t confirm the attack on Flores.

An investigation into his injuries is underway and details would not be released right away, a department spokesperson said.

Flores had only been at the Fresno County prison for about a week after he was transferred there from North Kern State Prison, Mesick said.

Flores killed Smart, 19, during an attempted rape in 1996 in his dorm room at the university where both were freshmen.

He was the last person seen with Smart as he accompanied her home from an off-campus party.

While Smart’s body has never been found, she was declared legally dead in 2002.

Flores was arrested in 2021 and convicted of first-degree murder last October.

He received his prison sentence in March.

Flores’ father was also charged after he was accused of helping his son hide Smart’s body, but 81-year-old Ruben Flores was later acquitted of being an accessory after the fact.

With Post wires