After more than a decade of unanswered questions, the family of 32-year-old Irasema Chavez is a step closer to justice as Arlington police and the FBI announced the arrest of her friend in connection with Chavez’s 2012 stabbing death.
Arlington Police Chief Alexander Jones announced at a news conference that Myra Velasquez, 42 — a friend of Chavez — was in custody after a decade-long investigation that was solved by using the FBI’s investigative genetic genealogy (IGG).
“I am grateful for the FBI for their continued partnership, and I’m most thankful that we’re able to tell the family of Miss Chavez that we made an arrest in this case,” Jones said.
Velasquez, according to Tarrant County Jail, was arrested on a capital murder by terror threat charge on Friday, July 17. The arrest is in connection with Arlington law enforcement responding on the morning of Jan. 20, 2012, to an apartment complex where Chavez was stabbed to death.
Photo of 32-year-old Irasema Chavez of Arlington, Texas.
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner later determined that Chavez was stabbed more than 100 times. Jail records show Velasquez is being detained without bond.
Arlington police detective Tracy Dixon became emotional when asked by a local reporter how it felt to tell Chavez’s family that an arrest had been made.
“Being able to share that with the family is why we do this work,” Dixon said. “It was emotional, but all everybody who is involved in this, whether you’re the detective, whether you’re on the FBI’s IGG team, whether you’re a crime scene worker working behind the scenes, everybody who touches a case like this feels that elation when it’s solved, feels the pain for the family.”
While an arrest has been made, Jones said his department’s work isn’t done and asked anyone with additional information about the case to contact Detective Dixon at 817-459-5579.
A motive has not been disclosed.
How does the FBI’s investigative genetic genealogy work?
At the news conference, Special Agent in Charge Joseph Rothrock of the FBI Dallas field office described IGG as a technique that combines unidentified crime-scene DNA with traditional genealogical research to generate new leads for law enforcement.
“It starts with an unknown DNA sample recovered from a scene; that sample is then submitted to a publicly accessible genealogy service to identify potential relatives of the unknown DNA profile,” Rothrock said. “Investigators then begin the process of constructing a family tree of individuals identified as potential relatives.”
Joseph Rothrock, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Dallas field office, speaks during a press conference at the scene of a shooting at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) field office in Dallas, Texas, U.S., September 24, 2025.
The resource-intensive process generates potential leads based on the DNA sample’s possible genetic relationships.
From there, investigators examine possible connections using information such as witness accounts, the location and the timing of the crime to identify a likely suspect.
“Only then do we seek a comparison of DNA between the potential suspect and the unknown DNA from the crime scene,” Rothrock said.
The FBI has used IGG to help solve nearly 250 cases in 30 states since 2018.
Facts of the Irasema Chavez case
Here are the quick facts of the Chavez case and what led to the arrest, according to the Arlington Police Department (APD):
Jan. 20, 2012 — Arlington police officers around 8:51 a.m. responded to Chavez’s apartment in the 2700 block of S. Collins Street after a family member reported finding her unresponsive and covered in blood inside. Chavez was pronounced dead at the scene.
While processing the scene, APD investigators located and collected a droplet of fresh blood that was on a bedroom television stand. The blood sample was sent to a crime lab for DNA analysis. The lab determined it did not belong to Chavez but rather to an unknown Hispanic female.
The DNA profile of this unknown individual was uploaded to the Combined DNA Index System but did not generate any matches at the time.
2012-2024 — Detectives continued to follow up on leads but could not definitively identify Chavez’s killer.
November 2024 — The APD met with the FBI Dallas field office to discuss whether the case would be a good candidate for their IGG program.
April 2026 — The IGG team notified detectives that they had identified Velasquez as a potential suspect.
May 2026 — Detectives obtained a sample of Velasquez’s DNA from discarded trash, and the lab determined her DNA was a match to the blood droplet recovered from the bedroom television stand.
July 17, 2026 — Velasquez was arrested on a capital murder charge in connection with the case.
Mateo Rosiles is the Texas Connect reporter for USA TODAY and its regional papers in Texas. Got a news tip for him? Email him at mrosiles@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: FBI genealogy solves 2012 Texas stabbing, friend now charged