Left: Christopher Daigle at 17. Right: An age progression photo showing what Daigle might have looked like at 22. (credit: National Center for Missing Children/CBS Houston)
HOUSTON (CBS Houston) – A Texas man charged with killing his 17-year-old friend walked out of prison Monday after prosecutors forgot to file paperwork for an indictment.
Richard Mendoza Jr., 26, was arrested and accused of murdering Christopher Daigle in 2002 while hunting near Missouri City, Texas. Daigle was shot in the back of the head.
Fort Bend County District Attorney John Healey confirmed that his office made a mistake and accepted responsibility.
Daigle was considered a missing person and an endangered runaway when he disappeared on Nov. 7, 2002. In the years following, the Houston Chronicle said his grandmother had bought a burial site and waited for bad newsthat was finally delivered this past August when police found his remains in a field.
Mendoza was arrested shortly afterward, and he was originally held on $250,000 bail. But prosecutors let the 90 days pass during which paperwork for an indictment should be filed.
A judge released Mendoza but will track him with GPS, according to KRIV-TV.


