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More than a decade after a Texas woman was found stabbed roughly 100 times in her apartment, a real estate agent is behind bars without bond, facing capital murder charges.
Mayra Velasquez, 42, was booked into the Tarrant County Corrections Center on July 17 in connection with the killing of Irasema Chavez, according to the Arlington Police Department and county jail records.
Chavez, 32, was found dead 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.
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Surveillance video obtained by KDFW-TV, from the night before the grisly discovery showed a person wearing baggy clothing and a hoodie climbing the stairs to Chavez’s unit. The figure knocked, appeared to exchange words with someone at the door and was then allowed inside.
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.
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Investigators did, however, recover blood from the crime scene that did not belong to Chavez.
In 2016, Arlington police worked with Virginia-based Parabon NanoLabs to analyze the unknown DNA. The company used DNA phenotyping technology to produce a composite predicting the person’s likely appearance, including long brown hair and Latino ancestry.
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Still, no firm suspect emerged.
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The case gained new life in November 2024, when Arlington police brought it to the FBI’s Dallas Field Office and sought help from the bureau’s investigative genetic genealogy program. That process produced what authorities described as a significant lead earlier this year.
Detectives then gathered additional evidence and obtained a warrant for Velasquez, police said.
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Authorities have not released what evidence confirmed the genealogy lead, whether investigators obtained a direct DNA comparison from Velasquez or if she knew Chavez.
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Velasquez had worked locally as a real estate agent for years, posting property listings on her social media accounts.
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.
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Velasquez’s social media account captured the real estate agent gallivanting on trips with family and friends following the alleged murder.
She was seen smiling in trips to Peru, Mexico, Paris, and London.
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Tarrant County’s inmate database lists Velasquez’s charge as “capital murder by terror threat/other felony.”
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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’s attorney for comment.
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