The murder of Irasema Chávez on January 20, 2012, remained unsolved. A relative found her lifeless body, bearing multiple stab wounds, according to the Arlington, Texas, police at the time. There were no signs of forced entry, leading investigators to believe she knew her attacker. A television was missing from the home, believed to have been taken by the suspect. Forensic personnel collected a drop of fresh blood from the piece of furniture where the television had stood.
Despite having this small piece of evidence, 14 years passed without a clear lead—until a couple of days ago. The FBI and local authorities have now arrested Mayra Velásquez, a friend of the victim, for the homicide. Advanced forensic genetic genealogy analysis, combined with that small blood sample from over a decade ago, allowed investigators to reopen what had seemed like an unsolvable case.
According to the report by the FBI and Arlington police, Velásquez—42 years old and originally from Allende, Nuevo León (Mexico)—was arrested on July 17 and is being held without bail, per jail records. She faces a charge of capital murder. Chávez, who was 32 in 2012 and also a native of Allende, was a “close friend” of the accused, the authorities’ report states. The document also notes that the two women lived just a few kilometers apart.
Footage released by the Arlington police, dating to the night of January 19, shows a person wearing a hooded sweatshirt and baggy pants walking up the apartment stairs and knocking on Chávez’s door. The door opened, and the person appeared to speak with someone before entering. The following morning, Chávez was found on the floor with more than 100 stab wounds on her body. The bedroom television was missing.
The drop of blood collected at the time did not lead to the identification of any immediate suspect. DNA testing did not match any individual in the databases existing at the time. The DNA profile obtained was uploaded to the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System (CODIS)—a national database used to compare profiles in criminal investigations—but no match was found. The only conclusion reached was that the person was a “Hispanic female,” and witness information was limited.
Arlington police stated this week that they had investigated numerous leads over the years but failed to identify a definitive suspect until Velásquez’s arrest. In November 2024, the department’s homicide unit consulted the FBI in Dallas regarding the use of investigative genetic genealogy (IGG) in the case. The federal agency agreed to assist through this program, and in April 2026, their investigation yielded a crucial lead that detectives used to gather further evidence.
IGG is an investigative technique that combines advanced DNA analysis with the construction of family trees to identify suspects or human remains through distant relatives. It is primarily used when traditional law enforcement databases yield no results.
Velásquez, a mother of two and a real estate agent in Texas, came under surveillance; last May, during a meal with friends where plastic forks were used, police retrieved the utensils from the trash as evidence. These were sent for analysis. The results, as explained by Arlington Police Chief Al Jones, showed that the accused’s DNA matched the drop of blood recovered from the TV stand in Chávez’s bedroom.
“It is common for an attacker to inadvertently cut themselves during a stabbing, and we believe that is how Ms. Velásquez’s blood ended up at the crime scene,” Jones explained. Fran Sellars, the defendant’s lawyer, has urged judicial and civil authorities to keep an open mind regarding the false accusations against his client.
