ARLINGTON, Texas - A 42-year-old woman has been arrested in connection with the 2012 stabbing death of an Arlington woman after investigators used investigative genetic genealogy and DNA evidence to identify a suspect in the 14-year-old cold case.
The Arlington Police Department, working in partnership with the FBI Dallas Field Office, announced the arrest of Mayra Velasquez on a charge of capital murder in the killing of 32-year-old Irasema Chavez. Velasquez is known in the area as an award-winning Real Estate Agent.
Velasquez was taken into custody without incident on July 16 in Hurst by members of the Arlington Police Department's Fugitive Unit, Violent Crime Unit and Covert Investigations Unit. She was later booked into the Arlington City Jail before being transferred to the Tarrant County Jail.
The investigation began on Jan. 20, 2012, when officers responded at approximately 8:51 a.m. to Chavez's apartment in the 2700 block of South Collins Street after a family member found her unresponsive and covered in blood.
Chavez was pronounced dead at the scene. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office determined she had been stabbed more than 100 times.
Investigators also discovered a television was missing from the apartment and believe it was stolen during the attack.
While processing the crime scene, crime scene investigators recovered a droplet of fresh blood from a television stand in a bedroom. Laboratory testing determined the blood did not belong to Chavez but instead came from an unidentified Hispanic female.
The DNA profile was entered into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), a national law enforcement DNA database, but no matches were found.
Despite continuing to investigate leads between 2012 and 2024, detectives were unable to identify the killer.
In November 2024, Arlington homicide detectives partnered with the FBI Dallas Field Office to determine whether the case qualified for the bureau's Investigative Genetic Genealogy program. The program combines unidentified crime scene DNA with genealogy research and publicly available historical records to identify potential suspects.
In April 2026, the FBI notified detectives that its research had identified Velasquez as a potential suspect.
According to investigators, Velasquez had once been a close friend of Chavez and had lived only a few miles from the apartment where the killing occurred.
Detectives later collected a DNA sample from discarded trash linked to Velasquez and submitted it for laboratory testing.
The crime lab determined the DNA matched the blood recovered from the bedroom television stand in Chavez's apartment.
Investigators said it is common for attackers in stabbing cases to accidentally cut themselves during an assault, and they believe that is how Velasquez's blood was left at the scene.
Police said the motive for the killing remains unknown.
Anyone with additional information about the case is asked to contact Detective Dixon at 817-459-5579.
The investigation remains ongoing.
