DNA from used plastic fork solves 14-year-old Arlington cold case murder: affidavit

DNA from a used plastic fork put an Arlington real estate agent behind bars in a 14-year-old cold case, according to an affidavit supporting her arrest warrant.

Mayra Velasquez, 42, was arrested July 16 on suspicion of capital murder in the 2012 stabbing of Irasema Chavez at Chavez’s Arlington apartment. Chavez was stabbed more than 100 times, police have said. Surveillance video showed that the victim let a person disguised by a baggy hoodie into her apartment, and detectives believed she knew her killer.

At the time of the killing, detectives noted a spot of wet blood on a television stand in Chavez’s bedroom, according to the affidavit obtained by the Star-Telegram. The affidavit details how detectives used DNA to connect Velasquez to the case.

The blood on the TV stand, like other blood in the apartment, was collected on a swab and sent to a crime lab for DNA identification, detectives wrote. Tests revealed that while the spot of blood belonged to a Hispanic female, it did not match the DNA profile of Chavez. Detectives believe that the killer cut herself during the attack.

No matches for the sample were found in a police DNA index between 2012 and 2024, according to the affidavit.

In December 2024, Arlington police worked with the FBI to retest the sample and were able to identify a relative of Velasquez’s, confirmed through further research of family lineage, detectives wrote. A later review of Chavez’s phone records found that she and Velasquez were close friends.

Detectives received a tip close to the beginning of the investigation that Velasquez’s husband may have been jealous of the women’s close relationship, but the couple did not respond to a request to speak with detectives at that time, according to the affidavit.

In May of this year, undercover detectives observed Velasquez eating dinner with two plastic forks at a restaurant, according to the affidavit. When she left the restaurant, she left behind the used forks, a plate and a cup on the table where she had been sitting.

DNA testing on the fork revealed a profile that matched the one from the blood found on Chavez’s bedroom TV stand, detectives wrote. The killer stole one TV from the apartment but left behind a recording device, allowing police to recover the video of the hooded suspect arriving, police have said. Investigators believe that the suspect turned off the video feed that showed the outside view of the front door about 10 minutes after arriving at the apartment in the 2700 block of South Collins Street.

Police also found bloody shoeprints throughout the apartment that, based on their size, were believed to belong to a woman, according to the affidavit.

Velasquez faces a capital murder charge because the killing was committed during the course of a robbery or attempted robbery, police wrote in the affidavit.

Arlington police and the FBI will answer questions about the cold case at a press conference at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday.