Paul Flores’ second assailant has a history of attacking other inmates

April 29, 2024

By KAREN VELIE

Danny Araujo, a 35-year-old prisoner who has repeatedly attacked other inmates with shanks, allegedly attempted to kill Paul Flores at Pleasant Valley State Prison. Flores is serving a 25 to life sentence for the 1996 murder of Kristin Smart, a coed at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo.

On April 10, prison staff put Flores in a recreation yard with Araujo and other inmates. Araujo, who was holding shanks in each hand, allegedly attempted to stab Flores in the torso. Guards ordered everyone to the ground and summoned medical staff.

With blood on his hands and clothes, Araujo laid on the ground, according to Cellblock Chronicles. Guards later found two shanks in the dirt.

Araujo, who is serving a six-year sentence for robbery, was sent to prison on Sept. 27, 2017. He has since been charged four times, twice for being an inmate in possession of a weapon and twice for assault while at a prison in Kern County, according to court records.

Emergency personnel transported Flores for treatment at a hospital. He has since returned to Pleasant Valley State Prison where he was placed in protective housing while a decision is made whether or not he should remain there, which could take up to 60 days.

In Aug. 2023, Jason Budrow, a prisoner who killed a former cellmate, attempted to kill Flores. Budrow allegedly approached Flores from behind and attempted to cut his throat. Flores, who raised an arm to block the assault, suffered a wound to one side of his neck.

In Oct. 2022, a Monterey County jury found Flores guilty of first-degree murder in the killing of Kristin Smart in 1996. Then in March 2023, Monterey County Superior Court Judge Jennifer O’Keefe rejected a motion made by Flores’s attorney for a new trial and sentenced Flores to 25 years to life in prison.