"It's really for Kristin": Kristin Smart's parents receive Key to the City of Stockton
STOCKTON -- A standing ovation inside a hanger at the Port of Stockton on Thursday ahead of the State of the City, the ovation, for the parents of Kristin Smart.
Denise and Stan Smart were recipients of the Key to the City, in honor of their decades-long push for justice for their daughter, Kristin, and the scholarship they started in her honor, the Kristin Smart Scholarship.
Smart graduated from Lincoln High School in Stockton and attended Cal Poly. She disappeared over Memorial Day weekend in May 1996 after an off-campus house party. Her body has never been found and a suspect was never officially charged, until recently.
Then, in March, after a months-long pretrial and trial, Smart's former Cal Poly classmate and long-time suspect of the Smart family, Paul Flores was found guilty for her murder and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
Flores' father, Ruben Flores, was tried alongside his son, but their cases were deliberated on separately. Ruben Flores was acquitted of charges linked to Smart's disappearance, for what prosecutors argued, was his role in helping his son hide Smart's body in 1996.
"It's really for Kristin and to the community members who have reached out to us, because those people in the community who reached out to us are the ones who have given us strength for over a quarter of a century," said Denise Smart, Kristin's mother.
In introducing the Smarts, Stockton Mayor Kevin Lincoln said: "Today, we want to honor you, Stan and Denise, for your strength, resilience, faithfulness, and hope, as you fought for justice for your daughter."
The pair spoke to the audience of Stockton residents, who were some of the first to rally around the Smart family when Kristin disappeared in 1996. The community helped the family pass out missing flyers, and search in remote parts of San Luis Obispo County, near Cal Poly's campus.
"It's taken a community, thousands of people, in this community, Napa communities, San Luis Obispo communities, and everybody in between to solve this case and have it go forward, and have the perpetrator in prison now for first-degree murder," said Stan Smart, Kristin's father.
The Kristin Smart Scholarship has given the award to nearly two dozen women between San Joaquin and San Luis Obispo counties. The 2023 recipients will be announced within the week.
"We have a saying that Kristin would never give up on anything, we have to follow that legacy and we refused to give up until there was justice," said Denise.
In a conversation with CBS13, the Smarts said they are happy to be back in Stockton, at home, after months living in Salinas for the trial of the man, now sentenced for the murder of their daughter. They are using this time to "take a breath" but the work, and closure, are not done.
The Smarts want to work with California legislators to see about a change in the law so there would be additional years served if a suspect is found guilty of hiding a victim's body.
"Until we have her home, there's no such thing as closure," said Denise.
To the Stockton community, Denise shared a message to the hundreds in attendance while they accepted the key to the city, in what inspired their family to keep going: "Never give up on the vision, always believe that you can do whatever you set your heart to do."
The Smarts also championed the Kristin Smart Campus Safety Act that became law in 1998.
Flores filed a notice of appeal a month after he was sentenced. It's not his first attempt to restart court proceedings. The Smarts are focused on bringing Kristin home, for good, and working towards laws that will protect others.
