{"id":381679,"date":"2026-07-22T00:32:19","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T00:32:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/381679\/"},"modified":"2026-07-22T00:32:19","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T00:32:19","slug":"real-estate-agent-mayra-velasquez-charged-in-2012-cold-case-murder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/381679\/","title":{"rendered":"Real estate agent Mayra Velasquez charged in 2012 cold case murder"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!\n <\/p>\n

More than a decade after a Texas woman<\/a> was found stabbed roughly 100 times in her apartment, a real estate agent is behind bars without bond, facing capital murder charges.<\/p>\n

Mayra Velasquez, 42, was booked into the Tarrant County Corrections Center July 17 in the killing of Irasema Chavez, according to the Arlington Police Department<\/a> and county jail records.<\/p>\n

Chavez, 32, was found dead<\/a> Jan. 20, 2012, inside her second-floor apartment in the 2700 block of South Collins Street. Investigators said there were no obvious signs of forced entry, raising the possibility that Chavez knew the person who killed her or willingly opened the door.<\/p>\n

DNA CRACKS 40-YEAR COLD CASE MYSTERY WITH ARREST IN LIBRARY WORKER\u2019S SAVAGE SLAYING: POLICE<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Mayra <\/p>\n

Mayra Velasquez, 42, has been charged with murder in the 2012 killing of 32-year-old Irasema Chavez. (Tarrant County Jail)<\/p>\n

Surveillance video obtained by KDFW-TV<\/a> from the night before the grisly discovery showed a person wearing baggy clothing and a hoodie climbing the stairs to Chavez\u2019s unit. The figure knocked, appeared to exchange words with someone at the door and was then allowed inside.<\/p>\n

Police released the video in hopes the public could identify the visitor, but the shadowy image failed to produce the break detectives needed. The case eventually went cold<\/a>.<\/p>\n

FLORIDA WOMAN CHARGED WITH MURDER EVADING POLICE AFTER BODY FOUND IN SHALLOW GRAVE, SHERIFF SAYS<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Irasema <\/p>\n

Irasema Chavez was found stabbed to death inside her South Collins Street apartment on Jan. 20, 2012, with roughly 100 knife wounds, according to FOX 4 News Dallas-Fort Worth. (KDFW-TV)<\/p>\n

GET BREAKING NEWS BY EMAIL<\/a><\/p>\n

Investigators did, however, recover blood from the crime scene that did not belong to Chavez.<\/p>\n

In 2016, Arlington police worked with Virginia-based Parabon NanoLabs to analyze the unknown DNA<\/a>. The company used DNA phenotyping technology<\/a> to produce a composite predicting the person\u2019s likely appearance, including long brown hair and Latino ancestry.<\/p>\n

FORENSIC GENEALOGY UNMASKS COLD CASE SUSPECT AS STRANGLER, SEXUAL PREDATOR DECADES LATER: OFFICIALS<\/a><\/p>\n

Still, no firm suspect emerged.<\/p>\n

\"Constructed <\/p>\n

Arlington police eventually partnered with Virginia-based Parabon NanoLabs to construct a predicted profile of the suspect from scene DNA, though the resulting composite led to no initial breakthroughs. (KDFW-TV)<\/p>\n

FOLLOW THE FOX TRUE CRIME TEAM ON X<\/a><\/p>\n

The case gained new life in November 2024, when Arlington police brought it to the FBI\u2019s Dallas Field Office and sought help from the bureau\u2019s investigative genetic genealogy program<\/a>. That process produced what authorities described as a significant lead earlier this year.<\/p>\n

Detectives then gathered additional evidence and obtained a warrant for Velasquez, police said.<\/p>\n

SIGN UP TO GET THE LATEST TRUE CRIME NEWS<\/a><\/p>\n

Authorities have not released what evidence confirmed the genealogy lead, whether investigators obtained a direct DNA comparison from Velasquez or if she knew Chavez.<\/p>\n

\"Mayra <\/p>\n

Velasquez had worked locally as a real estate agent for years, often promoting property listings on her social media accounts. (KDFW-TV)<\/p>\n

LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE<\/a><\/p>\n

Velasquez had worked locally as a real estate agent for years, posting property listings on her social media accounts.<\/p>\n

Her Texas real estate license remained active as of Monday, and state records listed her with Pure Realtors LLC, KDFW-TV reported. Fox News Digital has reached out to the company for comment.<\/p>\n

SEND US A TIP<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Mayra <\/p>\n

Mayra Velasquez smiling in a photo in Mexico and in London. (Facebook\/Mayra Velasquez)<\/p>\n

LISTEN TO THE NEW ‘CRIME & JUSTICE WITH DONNA ROTUNNO’ PODCAST<\/a><\/p>\n

Velasquez’s social media account captured the real estate agent gallivanting on trips with family and friends following the alleged murder.<\/p>\n

Photos showed her smiling on trips to Peru, Mexico, Paris and London.<\/p>\n

GOT A TIP?<\/a><\/p>\n

Tarrant County\u2019s inmate database lists Velasquez\u2019s charge as “capital murder by terror threat\/other felony.”<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/a><\/p>\n

Arlington police and the FBI are expected to address the arrest during a joint news conference Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. CST. Fox News Digital has reached out to Velasquez\u2019s attorney for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! More than a decade after a Texas woman was found…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":381680,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[150,152,151,2539,294,2461,32,27,6433,393],"class_list":["post-381679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arlington","tag-arlington","tag-arlington-headlines","tag-arlington-news","tag-cold-case","tag-crime","tag-homicide","tag-police-and-law-enforcement","tag-texas","tag-true-crime","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381679","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=381679"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381679\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/381680"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=381679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=381679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=381679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}