DNA genealogy cracks 14-year Arlington stabbing cold case, suspect arrested

Arlington police and the FBI said investigative genetic genealogy and newer DNA testing cracked the 2012 killing of Irasema Chavez, leading to the arrest of 42-year-old Mayra Velasquez on a capital murder charge. The case had gone cold for more than 14 years before a discarded plastic fork helped produce the DNA match that tied Velasquez to the death.

Chavez, 32, was found dead in her Arlington apartment on Jan. 20, 2012, stabbed more than 100 times. Her body was discovered just before 9 a.m. by a niece who had been dropped off to spend the day there. Investigators had few early leads, including a missing TV and surveillance video that showed a woman walking to the apartment.

The evidence trail also included a drop of blood collected from a TV stand in the bedroom during the original investigation, KERA reported. Court documents and related reporting said that preserved evidence, combined with the later genetic genealogy work, ultimately linked Velasquez to the killing. One report said police initially believed the suspect was male until DNA results pointed them toward a female suspect, showing how the forensic picture shifted only after the case was revisited with modern tools.

Velasquez was identified as 42 in multiple reports. CBS Texas said she had worked as a realtor and recently as a sales representative at a limo company, and that people who knew her were stunned by the arrest. Her Lancaster family confirmed she lived there but offered no comment.

The arrest gave Chavez's family a name after years of uncertainty and gave prosecutors a capital murder case built on preserved physical evidence rather than fading memory. It also showed how investigative genetic genealogy can reopen a violent cold case long after the original scene has gone silent.