<\/p>\n
From left, Dustin Hoffman, Frank Sellers,\u00a0Mayra Velasquez\u00a0and McCall Hoops sit in front of reporters in a conference room in Fort Worth, Texas.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sana Muneer\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
The woman accused of killing<\/a> her friend by stabbing her more than 100 times in 2012 faced reporters in a Fort Worth<\/a> conference room Friday, proclaiming her innocence in the cold case that had stumped police for more than a decade.\u00a0<\/p>\n Two days before, Velasquez was released from Tarrant County<\/a> jail on a $450,000 bond after being arrested in connection with the 2012 death of 32-year-old\u00a0Irasema Chavez. Police say Chavez was stabbed over 100 times in her apartment in Arlington<\/a>, but struggled to definitively identify a suspect.<\/p>\n Velasquez, a 42-year-old real estate agent, was arrested July 16 after the FBI\u2019s genealogy program discovered a break in the cold case. Blood found on a television in Chavez\u2019s apartment was matched to a droplet of blood obtained from Velasquez\u2019s discarded trash in May, according to police.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Velasquez, who now faces a capital murder<\/a> charge in Chavez\u2019s death, looked at each reporter in the room as she spoke.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI did not do this,\u201d she said. \u201cI would never do this, not to anyone. I am a good person. She was my friend. I know God and all those people who know me; they know that I could never do something like this to anyone. But I have faith in God that they’re gonna find out who did this to her.\u201d<\/p>\n Related: \u2018Turn every stone\u2019: Arlington police make arrest in 14-year-old cold case with help from FBI\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n In the room, Velasquez was flanked by her legal counsel, lawyers Frank Sellers, Dustin Hoffman and McCall Hoops of Sellers Law Firm. She did not take questions from reporters.<\/p>\n After Velasquez spoke, Sellers said the droplet of blood found on Chavez\u2019s TV in 2012 is not enough to prove anything more than that Velasquez had once been in the apartment.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cWhat does the DNA prove?\u201d he said. \u201cAll that proves is that she had been in that apartment at some prior point, some prior time. It does not prove that she committed a brutal, heinous murder.\u201d<\/p>\n At an Arlington Police news conference on June 22<\/a>, lead homicide detective Tracey Dixon said police believe they have the right person in custody.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n