A 14-year-old Texas cold case recently took a dramatic turn after cutting-edge DNA technology led investigators to a murder suspect, according to reports.
Online records from the Tarrant County Jail show that 42-year-old Mayra Velasquez was arrested on Friday and charged with capital murder. She is currently being held at the at Tarrant County Corrections Center without bond.
The Arlington Police Department and the FBI Dallas Field Office said Velasquez — a real estate agent — was arrested in connection with the 2012 murder of 32-year-old Irasema Chavez, per FOX 4 News. The media outlet reported that Chavez was found dead inside her Arlington apartment on Jan. 20, 2012, after she was stabbed nearly 100 times.
Investigators determined there were no signs of forced entry, leading them to believe the she knew her attacker, according to reports.
Surveillance video circulating online appeared to capture a person walking into Chavez’s apartment the night before the deadly attack, but FOX 4 News reported that investigators were unable to identify the suspect at the time.
The case remained unsolved for years despite investigators developing a DNA profile from blood recovered at the crime scene, per FOX 4 News. Police worked with Parabon NanoLabs to generate a forensic DNA phenotype, or predicted image of the suspect, but the investigation stalled, the outlet noted.
A breakthrough came in late 2024 when police partnered with the FBI’s Dallas Field Office and used investigative genetic genealogy, a technique that combines DNA analysis with genealogy databases to identify possible relatives of an unknown suspect, the outlet reported.
The effort ultimately led investigators to Velasquez.
According to reports, investigators have been mum with details but are expected to release more information about the arrest during a news conference on Wednesday.