The North Texas real estate agent accused of stabbing an Arlington woman more than 100 times in 2012 has been released on bond, according to Tarrant County court records.
Arlington police said Mayra Velasquez, 42, was identified through DNA evidence as the person who killed Irasema Chavez more than 14 years ago. Her attorneys say she is innocent.
Velasquez was released Tuesday on $450,000 bond. She was initially denied bond, a move that led her attorneys to file a motion in court known as a writ of habeas corpus, arguing the denial of bond was unconstitutional.
Police said they identified Velasquez using a quarter-sized drop of blood found at the scene in 2012. They took a sample of that DNA to the FBI in Dallas, which used its Investigative Genetic Genealogy program to identify relatives, build a family tree and narrow down suspects to Velasquez.
Police said they then collected trash left behind after Velasquez met some friends for lunch. DNA from that trash, when compared to the blood, found a match.
Police said Velasquez was friends with Chavez and regularly visited the apartment where Chavez was found killed. In an arrest warrant affidavit obtained by KERA News, police allege Velasquez’s husband was “jealous of the two women’s close relationship” around the time of the killing.
Velasquez’s attorneys argued in a statement released last week that Velasquez was indeed a regular visitor at Chavez’s apartment and that it shouldn’t be a surprise her DNA was found there. Police said in the arrest warrant affidavit that it is common for someone to cut themselves when stabbing another person as many times as Chavez was stabbed.
Attorneys also took issues with the way investigators described the blood droplet found as being “fresh” and “glistening” when Chavez’s body was discovered, nearly 10 hours after she was killed.
In the warrant affidavit, investigators said the blood drop was in a similar state as the rest of the blood found at the scene.
Attorneys also said they believe investigators were originally looking for a male suspect based on surveillance video found at the scene. In the video, a person wearing baggy pants and a hoodie with the hood pulled up is seen walking into the apartment.
Dustin Hoffman, one of the attorneys representing Velasquez, said he does not yet have access to all documents involved in the case but has been told by witnesses that investigators were originally looking for a man and questioning male suspects.
A news release shared by Arlington police in 2012 said police were looking for the person in that video, but investigators in that document did not specify whether the suspect was a man or a woman. The warrant affidavit also mentions bloody shoeprints that investigators described as being small, belonging to a woman or a “small male.”
In the writ of habeas corpus, hear attorneys argued that Velasquez should be granted bond because she has no criminal record, is not a threat to the community and that while she has been known to travel internationally, she is not a flight risk.
Prior to being released on bond, Velasquez was held at the Lon Evans Corrections Center, a maximum-security facility in the Tarrant County jail system.
Tarrant County court records do not yet show the next date Velasquez is required to appear in court.
James Hartley is the Fort Worth breaking news reporter and producer for KERA News. Got a tip? Email James Hartley at jhartley@kera.org.
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