Gerardo Razo is still haunted by the images of him attached to a respirator in a hospital room after he was hit head-on by a drunken driver who was going the wrong way on Interstate 35 at the San Pedro Avenue exit ramp. The April 2010 crash has left Razo's body filled with metal pins and screws.

"I was awake the whole time," Razo said, recalling in vivid detail the moments leading up to the violent crash. "There's just no words to describe it, just looking at it is very tough."

On Wednesday a Bexar County jury awarded Razo $2.7 million in a civil case against Stephanie Cerda, the driver who hit Razo.

Razo's attorney, Dan Crook, said Cerda was driving even though her license was suspended and she wasn't just drunk.

Official reports showed she had a toxic mix of alcohol, cocaine, Xanax, Valium, and Vicodin in her body at the time of the collision.

Two months after being charged with felony intoxication assault, Cerda was arrested a second time on suspicion of driving under the influence.

In May, Cerda was arrested for driving under the influence for a third time. She was supposed to be under house arrest but somehow managed to slip off her court ordered ankle monitor and drove drunk again, police said.

"The second time was the one that really ticked me off," Razo said. "When I was in the hospital she posts bond and does it again."

Razo's attorney took the case for free, setting his sights on a huge verdict that he hoped would send a message to the community.

"I asked them to trust me and I said, 'If you render a verdict that is large enough to matter and make a difference, I will make sure and Jerry will make sure that this message is carried out. That if you do this, you will be punished and it needs to stop,'" Dan Crook said.

Despite the multimillion dollar judgment against her, Crook said Cerda posted bond again Wednesday after spending five months behind bars.

"To me, it is the ultimate injustice that on the day he got his verdict she got back out on the highways again," Crook said.

Razo worries it's just a matter of time before Cerda hurts someone else.

"I'm going to say she's going to do it again," Razo said. "It's very scary and frustrating to know how weak our system is. Letting them go and risking someone else's life out there again. It's putting lives in danger."

Cerda is still waiting to go on trial for the criminal cases. She's charged with felony intoxication assault for the accident that injured Razo and has the two DUI cases still pending.

It's unlikely Razo will ever get a penny of that $2.7 million dollar civil judgment because Cerda didn't have any insurance. But Crook said she won't be allowed to get a license or register a car until she pays.

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