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Irasema Chavez was found dead with over 100 stab wounds in her Arlington, Texas, apartment on January 19, 2012
NEED TO KNOW
- Mayra Velasquez was arrested in connection with the 2012 fatal stabbing of her close friend Irasema Chavez in her apartment in Arlington, Texas
- Investigative genetic genealogy used the blood and DNA from a discarded fork to help identify Velasquez as a suspect in May 2026, investigators said.
- Velasquez is currently being held without bond on a capital murder charge
A Texas woman was arrested after investigators used DNA evidence found on a fork to connect her with the fatal stabbing of Irasema Chavez in January 2012.
Chavez, 32, was found dead with over 100 stabbing wounds in her Arlington, Texas, apartment on January 19, 2012, the Arlington Police Department (APD) said in a news release. At the crime scene, a drop of blood was found on a bedroom television stand by the APD Crime Scene Investigators, and it was later determined by a crime lab that the blood was from an unknown Hispanic female.
The unknown woman’s DNA profile was uploaded to the national law enforcement database Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). But at the time, there were no matches.
Eventually, in November 2024, the department’s Homicide Unit partnered with the FBI Dallas Field Office and used their Investigative Genetic Genealogy (IGG) program to continue the investigation. “IGG is a process that uses unidentified crime scene DNA, intensive genealogy research, and publicly available historical records to develop new leads for law enforcement agencies,” per the APD news release.
Less than two years later, in April 2026, the IGG team identified the late Chavez’s close friend Velasquez as a suspect. Then in May 2026, Velasquez’s DNA was obtained from a plastic fork from discarded trash, WFAA reports. The crime lab determined her DNA matched the blood sample’s DNA, per the outlet.
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Velasquez, now 42, was arrested on July 16. She was taken into custody and is currently being held without bond in the Tarrant County Jail on a charge of capital murder, per online jail records viewed by PEOPLE.
Investigators have not yet identified a motive in Chavez’s killing, per the APD’s press release.
APD Cold Case Detective Tracey Dixon announced she shared the news of Velasquez’s arrest with Chavez’s family.
“They were very grateful. It was emotional,” she said during a press conference, per WFAA. “Everybody who touches a case like this feels that elation when it’s solved, feels the pain for the family.”
“I am extremely proud of the work that our officers and crime scene investigators did on this case. They showed tenacity and dedication and never gave up,” Arlington Police Chief Al Jones said, per ABC News. He said that around 13 to 14 cold cases have been solved in the past year and a half with help from DNA technology, per WFAA.
FBI Dallas special agent Joe Rothrock shared a similar sentiment, saying that investigative genetic genealogy has solved over 250 cases across 30 states since 2018, per NBC News.
Read the original article on People
