A drop of blood and a discarded fork led to the arrest of a popular real estate agent accused of stabbing her “close friend” more than 100 times in 2012.
North Texas real estate agent Mayra Velasquez, 42, was arrested Monday, July 20, and charged with capital murder in the fatal stabbing of 32-year-old Irasema Chavez in her apartment 14 years ago.
Documents obtained by ABC 8 News reveal that DNA led to a breakthrough in the Texas cold case.
In a press conference on Wednesday, July 22, the Arlington Police Department announced Velasquez (left) and Chavez were “close friends.” A motive in the stabbing is unknown, police said.
Chavez installed a video surveillance system in 2011 after someone slashed the tires on her car at her apartment complex.
On January 19, 2012, the security camera captured a person wearing baggy pants and a grey hoodie climbing the stairs to Chavez’s second-floor apartment on South Collins Street in Arlington.
Security footage shows Chavez let the person inside her apartment.
The next day, Chavez was found dead in her apartment by a worried relative who went to check on her.
The medical examiner said Chavez was stabbed more than 100 times.
Police downloaded video from Chavez’s security system but the footage was too grainy to identify the suspect. Investigators initially believed the suspect was a man.
Forensics investigators processing the crime scene discovered a single drop of blood on a TV stand in the bedroom. The television was missing. Police believe the suspect took it to make the murder look like a burglary.
DNA analysis showed the blood belonged to an unknown Hispanic female. There was no match in a national DNA database.
The case remained unsolved for years until investigators re-examined the evidence with new technology in November 2024.
The Arlington Police Department’s Homicide Unit met with the FBI Dallas Field Office and used their Investigative Genetic Genealogy (IGG) to develop an image of what the suspect might look like.
Ancestry DNA testing led police to a female relative of the unknown female suspect.
In April 2026, detectives conducted family lineage research to identify Velasquez as the potential female suspect who left a fresh drop of blood at the crime scene.
Velasquez had been in Chavez’s apartment before, Arlington Police Detective Tracey Dixon told reporters on Wednesday.
“Ms. Velasquez was at one time a close friend of Ms. Chavez and lived just a few miles away from the crime scene,” police said.
A team of detectives placed Velasquez under 24-hour surveillance.
Velasquez, who was 27 at the time of the murder, gave birth to her first child a year after the murder. By 2025, she was a successful real estate agent, living her best life and traveling the world.
Velasquez and her husband flipped houses and owned several businesses. She was a pillar of society and well-liked by friends and clients.
On May 13, 2026, detectives conducting surveillance tracked Velasquez to a restaurant where she dined with friends. After they left the restaurant, investigators collected two plastic forks, a plate and a cup they said she used during dinner.
A state crime lab determined DNA recovered from one of the forks matched the DNA profile of the female suspect.
Velasquez was arrested in the nearby city of Hurst and transferred to the Tarrant County Jail. She is being held without bond.