Texas Real Estate Agent Arrested in 2012 Murder Case

A Texas real estate agent has been taken into custody in connection with the murder of a woman who was brutally stabbed nearly 100 times back in 2012.

Mayra Velazquez, aged 42, faces capital murder charges related to the death of Iracema Chavez. She was booked into the Tarrant County Correctional Center on July 17, as noted in a recent county jail report.

Chavez, 32, was discovered dead in her Arlington apartment on January 20, 2012, with around 100 stab wounds. The murder case remained cold for over a decade until Velazquez’s recent arrest.

Initially, law enforcement observed no apparent signs of forced entry, indicating that Chavez may have allowed her assailant into her home.

The only significant clue at the time was surveillance footage capturing an unknown individual entering the apartment the night before the murder.

This footage reportedly showed a person dressed in baggy clothes and a hoodie approaching Chavez’s door, engaging in conversation before being let inside.

Although investigators collected various leads, including surveillance images and blood evidence not connected to Chavez, DNA results did not match anyone in existing databases. Witnesses offered limited insights, causing the case to remain unresolved for years.

In 2016, blood samples were sent to Parabon Nanolab, which employed DNA markers to create a predictive image of the suspect. Yet, the individual remained unidentified.

In 2024, the Arlington Police Department collaborated with the FBI’s Dallas Field Office to reexamine unsolved murder cases through their Investigative Genetic Genealogy program, which merges crime scene DNA analysis with genealogy databases.

After two years of reinvestigation, this program led detectives to crucial new evidence, though the specifics concerning its nature or its direct link to Velazquez have not been disclosed.

It remains unclear whether Velazquez and Chavez had any prior connection.

In the years following the alleged murder, Velazquez’s social media shared glimpses of her travels with family and friends, displaying photos from places like Peru, Mexico, Paris, London, Disney World, and New York City.

Velazquez is currently employed as an affiliate manager at JC Limo and possesses an active real estate license with Pure Realtors, LLC.

She is being held without bail, and her upcoming court date has not yet been made public, according to jail records.