A North Texas real estate agent has been arrested and charged with capital murder by terroristic threat, according to Tarrant County jail and court records.
Mayra Velasquez, 42, was arrested by Arlington police for the January 2012 killing of Irasema Chavez Sanchez and is being held at the Tarrant County Jail without bond, according to court records. Jail records indicate she was booked in on July 17.
Court records indicate Velasquez is represented by attorney Vincent Carrizales, who could not be immediately reached by phone for comment Monday afternoon. KERA left a voicemail asking for comment and will update this story if he responds.
According to medical examiner records, Sanchez died by multiple stab wounds in a kitchen in the 2700 block of South Collins Street in Arlington.
Police said in a news release that homicide detectives met with the FBI Dallas Field Office in November 2024 to discuss using the bureau's Investigative Genetic Genealogy program and got the agency's agreement to assist.
The program uses genetic databases to compare suspect DNA to samples received from customers, looking for familial matches that might help identify a suspect.
The department did not say in the release specifically how they used the program to identify Velasquez.
Jimenez, another real estate agent who asked to be identified only by her last name, said she knew Velasquez around 2022 and 2023 when they were working for the same company.
To Jimenez, Velasquez seemed to be an exceptionally kind person. She was married with children and would frequently travel outside the country to visit relatives.
"For me she was a sweet lady, very outgoing, helpful, family oriented," Jimenez said. "I'm in shock because she's not somebody I thought would ever do anything like that."
Jimenez said they would see each other at real estate events and talk on the phone from time to time, but they were never close friends in part because they lived on opposite sides of town.
They recently spoke on the phone about her travels.
"I talked to her about seeing her travel the world and I told her, 'Hey, what are you doing? How are you traveling the world if we got to sell houses?' " Jimenez said. "She said, 'No girl, I got family and so I go visit them and that's what we do so I don't really have to spend a lot of money.' "
She said she knew Velasquez as a good real estate agent who cared about her family and health, but they didn't talk much about her past.
Velasquez mentioned that she and her husband flipped homes and had some other side businesses, but in all her interactions she was "very kind, very polite."
This developing story will be updated as more details become available.
James Hartley reports on Arlington for KERA News. Got a tip? Email James Hartley at jhartley@kera.org.
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