Mayra Velasquez: Former Friend Charged in 2012 Slaying of Arlington Woman Stabbed Nearly 100 Times

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More than 14 years after a 32-year-old mother was found stabbed multiple times in her Arlington apartment, police say they’ve finally made an arrest.
  
Mayra Velasquez, 42, was booked into the Tarrant County Corrections Center on July 17, 2026, on a capital murder charge in the killing of Irasema Chavez.


Irasema Chavez 

According to police reports, Chavez’s body was discovered on January 20, 2012, after family members went to check on her at the Aspenwood Apartments on South Collins Street. 

The scene was brutal as she suffered over 100 stab wounds, as reported by New York Post

From the very beginning of the investigation, detectives believed Chavez knew her attacker as there were no signs that anyone had forced their way inside. 

A neighbor’s security camera only captured a figure in baggy clothing and a hoodie walking up the stairs to Chavez’s door, knocking, and exchanging a few words before being let in. 

But the video wasn’t clear enough to identify anyone, leaving investigators clueless. Additionally, blood found at the scene that didn’t belong to Chavez failed to match anyone in law enforcement databases at the time. 

With limited information and no direct suspect, the case went cold until 2016 when the Arlington police sent a sample of that unknown blood to Parabon NanoLabs. 

Scientists there used DNA markers tied to ancestry, eye color, hair color and skin tone to build a predicted composite of what the suspect might look like. Even with that snapshot, no name surfaced, and the case went cold again.

Mayra Velasquez's mugshot 

Mayra Velasquez with an award after the alleged crime


Then, in November 2024, the department’s homicide unit reached out to the FBI Dallas Field Office to ask about using investigative genetic genealogy, or IGG, on the case. 

The FBI agreed to help, and agents started combining the crime-scene DNA profile with public genealogy databases and family tree research, and in April 2026, their efforts identified Vasquez as a suspect.

The following month, in May 2026, detectives collected a sample of Velasquez’s DNA from a discarded plastic fork in a trash and sent it to a crime lab, as per PEOPLE.

When the results came back, they matched a blood droplet that had been found on a bedroom television stand inside Chavez’s apartment. 

In a news release after a press conference, Arlington police addressed what that match likely means.

“Detectives note it is common during stabbing attacks for an assailant to inadvertently cut themselves, which is how they believe Ms. Velasquez’s blood was left at the crime scene,” the department said.

Investigators also confirmed that Velasquez was at one time a close friend of Ms. Chavez, and that she lived just a few miles from the crime scene. 

Still, a motive for the killing remains unclear, and officials haven’t said what they think led to the violence that night, as per CBS News.

In the years after Chavez’s death, Velasquez’s public life moved forward, unapologetically. Her social media accounts show trips with family and friends to Peru, Mexico, Paris, London, Disney World and New York City. 

She also held an active real estate license and worked for Pure Realtors, LLC, while her LinkedIn profile also lists a current job as an affiliate manager for JC Limo.

As of time of this report, Velasquez remained in the Tarrant County Jail with no bond set, and a future court date has not been announced.

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