More than a decade after a Texas woman was found stabbed roughly 100 times in her apartment, a real estate agent is behind bars without bond, facing capital murder charges.
Mayra Velasquez, 42, was booked into the Tarrant County Corrections Center on July 17 in connection with the killing of Irasema Chavez.
Chavez, 32, was discovered dead on January 20, 2012, inside her second‑floor apartment on the 2700 block of South Collins Street. Investigators noted no obvious signs of forced entry, suggesting Chavez may have known the killer or opened the door.
Surveillance footage captured a person in baggy clothing and a hoodie climbing the stairs to Chavez’s unit the night before the discovery. The figure knocked, exchanged words, and was allowed inside. The footage was released to the public but did not lead to identification.
The case went cold, but investigators recovered blood at the scene that did not belong to Chavez. In 2016, a Virginia‑based laboratory analyzed the DNA. Using phenotyping, the lab produced a composite indicating long brown hair and Latino ancestry, yet no suspect emerged.
In November 2024, the case was turned over to the FBI’s Dallas Field Office, which employed its investigative genetic genealogy program. The effort yielded a significant lead earlier this year, prompting the gathering of additional evidence and the issuance of a warrant for Velasquez.
Velasquez, a local real estate agent, had an active Texas real estate license and was listed with Pure Realtors LLC. Her social media profile showed her traveling with family and friends after the alleged murder, with photos of her smiling on trips to Peru, Mexico, Paris, and London.
Velasquez faces capital murder charges. Arlington police and the FBI plan to discuss the arrest in a joint news conference on Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. CST.
