The state of Texas is allowing thousands of suspected robbers, rapists and even murderers to remain on the streets and possibly commit more crimes, according to an 11 News Defenders computer assisted analysis of Texas Department of Public safety records.

The 11 News Defenders discovered a massive backlog in processing lab requests at DPS crime labs, and as a result, many local police agencies claim the state has them practically handcuffed from completing criminal investigations.

Investigations such as the potential intoxication manslaughter of 18-year-old Meagan Crawford.

“They were stopped at a red light, and a lady plowed into the back of their car,” said Crawford’s mother, Katrina Desha-Perry.

The impact crumpled the entire back end of the Saturn sedan the teenager was driving. Crawford’s injuries were critical, and after being airlifted from the scene, she died hours later at Memorial Hermann hospital.

“She took my baby, and she’s walking around free right now,” Desha-Perry said, referring to Anna Blair, 25, the driver and suspect in the crash.

According to a Conroe police report, there was no evidence of braking or evasive action by Blair. What’s more, at the accident scene she spoke with slurred speech and had poor balance, and openly admitted to taking three different narcotics: methadone, Xanax and clonazepam.

“She should have never got in the vehicle,” Desha-Perry said. “She shouldn’t have done it, and to me, you killed my child.”

Conroe police investigated the crash as a crime, intoxication manslaughter, but first had to legally prove it. So detectives took a blood sample from Blair and sent it off to the DPS crime lab in Austin for testing.

But that was the start of even more pain for the victim’s family.

“Thirty days, then 60 days, 90 days,” Desha-Perry recalled as the wait for the test results, and justice, grew and grew.

In fact, the accident occurred March 19, 2007, but now, seven months later, Conroe Police still don’t know if Anna Blair was intoxicated, and still don’t know if they can arrest her, because the Texas Department of Public Safety still has not completed the lab work on the case.

“You know our hands are tied, without evidence we don’t have a case,” said Conroe Police Sgt. Mike Tindall.

“It makes me very, very, very mad,” Desha-Perry said.

Turns out, Blair has a conviction for a prior drug offense. She remains free, and could be driving.

“It just makes it 10 times worse to know that it’s something that could have never happened,” Desha-Perry said.

But that isn’t the only such case for Conroe police. Sgt. Tindall said his agency has 260 cases still waiting for DPS lab work, sometimes months overdue.

And with a cost.

“It’s frustrating sometimes for these guys,” Sgt. Tindall said. “It does definitely delay justice and in some cases it may deny it completely.”

Conroe is not alone. The 11 News Defenders analyzed lab work requests sent by police agencies from across Texas to DPS. As of August, DPS was backed up with more than 13,656 tests waiting to be done.

Of those, 4,355, or 32 percent, were more than three months old. Another 1840 or 13 percent were more than six months old.  

The state’s own data even showed more than 711 cases were still waiting for results after more than a year. Those included robberies, sexual assaults and homicides -- cases all stalled, leaving local police handcuffed.

“You’re waiting for that and you know they’re still out committing crimes,” said Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Craig Brady. “That’s the worst case scenario.”

Brady recalled a sexual assault that occurred in January 2004 at a Katy apartment complex.

“It was a fairly violent attack,” he said.

Investigators sent DNA evidence to a state crime lab for testing, but six months went by, and they still had no results. And what’s worse: “We had a second attack in the same apartment complex,” Brady said.

But investigators had no way of knowing if the two incidents were related.

Fed up, sheriff’s deputies drove to the state lab in Austin and actually took the DNA sample from the first crime back. They then had it tested by a private lab.

Ultimately Joel Rodriguez Briones, 25, was linked to both of those crimes, and more. He’s now serving a life sentence in a Texas prison.

“Allegedly he’s going to end up being a serial rapist with a number of victims,” Brady said.

“No, that isn’t what we want to see,” said Pat Johnson, director of all 13 Texas DPS crime labs.

When asked if the backlog was giving suspects a long leash to re-offend, Johnson paused, the replied:  “It probably is giving, if they’re out on the streets, yeah, it’s not where they need to be.”

So how did it get this way?

“Well I can tell you it’s always kind of been this way, and that would be an accurate statement,” Johnson said, adding that it doesn’t make it right.

As for erasing the backlog, Johnson said the agency goal is a 30-day turnaround for all lab work requests, but admits that won’t happen overnight.

“There’s no way I can tell you that a year from now we’re going to be caught up, we won’t be,” Johnson said.

He said the reason all comes to down to money; that state lawmakers have traditionally failed to provide to hire more forensic examiners and build more labs.

“There’s no excuse for it,” said State Sen. John Whitmire.

“Unfortunately crime labs at the state and local level are kind of the step child of criminal justice,” Sen. Whitmire said, adding that it’s not a top priority for most politicians.

“You get more glamour, more attention, whether you’re a state official or local official, by putting more uniformed officers on the street,” Sen. Whitmire said.

But more cops on the beat may not help those touched by crime who have been watching days turn into weeks, even months on end, waiting for justice.

People like Katrina Desha-Perry, who lost her daughter.

“She needs to go to court, she needs to pay for what she did, you know, she needs to look at a picture of my child, she needs to know what she took away,” she said.

There is some good news in all of this. State lawmakers did give the DPS enough money this past session to hire 46 new forensic examiners. But with the good comes the bad. DPS says as things stand now, there’s no where to put those people, because it’s outgrown its aging labs.

A solution would be the passage of Proposition Four, on the November election ballot. It would allow DPS to spend $88 million to build new buildings and buy new lab equipment.

It will be up to the voters whether to approve that or not.