RICHMOND, Texas -- Five years ago, Elizabeth Clark and her husband Randy were on a motorcycle at a Fort Bend County intersection when a suspected drunk driver came barreling through. Randy Clark was killed, leaving his wife to fight for justice.

Jose Garcia Vasquez was charged in the case, but is now a free man. Free, said Clark, because a key piece of evidence in the case was mishandled.

The Texas Department of Public Safety's lead investigator in the case mistakenly destroyed the blood evidence that police said proved Vasquez was intoxicated. Prosecutors said Vasquez's blood - alcohol level was .12 -- well over the legal limit.

“And I think that had a huge impact. A huge impact,” said Mrs. Clark. “I waited five years for this, and not even a slap on the wrist. I feel horrible.”

Supporters blame the DPS's “sloppy investigation” for the acquittal.

"It's an error, so yes it's sloppy," Fort Bend County District Attorney John Healey told the 11 News Defenders when the problems with the case were first reported in June.

"If they would have done their job, this would have been over,” said Clark family friend John Kelley.

The missing blood evidence was allowed as evidence, but not before the case dragged on and Vasquez's attorney was able to open the door for the jury to have reasonable doubt about the missing blood.

“I hadn't even been given a chance to retest it to see if it was accurate,” said the defense attorney Randy McDonald.

The prosecution acknowledged that the case was damaged by the mishandling of the blood evidence.

“The saying goes, ‘warts and all,' and this case had some warts,” said Fort Bend County Assistant District Attorney Mike Elliott. “So, that's what it is. We present those facts to the jury.”

A jury that took only two hours to acquit Vasquez, who avoided a 2 to 20 year prison sentence if he had been found guilty.