Mayra Velasquez, 42, was located in Hurst by officials with the Arlington police fugitive unit, violent crime unit and covert investigations unit on July 16 and taken into custody.
As of Wednesday, Velasquez remains in the Tarrant County jail with no bail set, according to jail records. Police said she faces a capital murder charge.
When asked if police believe they have the right person in custody, the case’s lead homicide detective Tracey Dixon replied, “Yes.”
On Jan. 20, 2012, Irasema Chavez was found dead by a family member shortly before 9 a.m. in her apartment in the 2700 block of S. Collins Street, according to police.
The Tarrant County medical examiner’s office determined she had been stabbed over 100 times, Arlington police chief Al Jones said during a news conference Wednesday, and a TV was stolen from her apartment. The weapon was never recovered, Dixon said.
Police turned to the FBI’s Dallas Field Office for help in 2024 when a drop of blood found on Chavez’s TV in 2012 produced no matches in the Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS. CODIS is a national law enforcement database used to compare DNA profiles in criminal investigations.
FBI officials helped police create a family tree using the blood and compared the unidentified DNA with publicly accessible genealogy and historical records, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Dallas Joseph “Joe” Rothrock said.
In April, FBI officials put in a call to police and told them Velasquez, who they say was a close friend of Chavez, was identified as a potential suspect. Jones noted Velasquez had lived just miles from Chavez’s apartment.
Officers then obtained a sample of Velasquez’s DNA from discarded trash in May, Jones said, and sent it to be examined. It was determined her DNA was a match to the blood droplet found on the TV stand.
The investigation into Chavez’s death remains ongoing, though there’s currently no one else police are looking at in connection with the killing, Jones said.
With each solved cold case, Jones said, a loop is closed for families who’ve been waiting years for answers. “We turn every stone, and we’re not going to stop,” Jones added.
“The reason why we give so much of ourselves is for that,” Dixon said.