Family members of a Florida Highway Patrol trooper spoke out about why they feel the court was insensitive to have released the man convicted in his death from jail Monday.
Robert Smith, who died in 1997, would have celebrated his 49th birthday Monday.
Investigators said Julio Gonzalez was drunk when he plowed a vehicle into the back of Smith's cruiser on Interstate 95, as Smith was parked beside the interstate doing paperwork. His car burst into flames. Gonzalez was released from prison Monday.
"It's like a big stab in your heart," said Smith's twin sister, Robyn Harris. "It just makes me sick to my stomach. I just can't believe it."
Harris and the other family members are irate.
"He's getting out of prison today and going to have a drink and celebrate him getting out, and on the day that, of our birthday, like, he's celebrating getting out and he's celebrating our birthday. That is how I feel. I think it's very evil," Harris said.
At his sentencing, Gonzalez tearfully addressed the family.
"I have no compassion," said Smith's father, David Smith. "The young man stood in front of us and apologized in court, and I felt nothing for him. I'm very bitter. I'm very bitter. He took my son away."
What makes it worse for Smith's family is that Gonzalez escaped from jail while on work release, and they said he was later found drunk.
"That's what made me mad. Then, he gets another year and he gets out," Haris sad. "You know he's going to be right back again. I mean, it already tells you. Twice he's already done it."
Robert Smith left behind a wife and two children. He is remembered for his career in law enforcement and his time as a college baseball star.
"We have to stop it. We have to educate these kids and people that drink and drive. It's a choice they made, and they need to pay for the choice they made," said Lisa Smith, the trooper's mother. "We're not getting our loved one back, but you know what? We can try to stop and get these drunk drivers off the road, because they need to pay for their crime."
Gonzalez is now on probation.