Arlington police and the FBI arrested Mayra Velasquez, 42, and charged her with capital murder in the 2012 stabbing death of her friend Irasema Chavez, closing out a case that had sat unsolved for over 14 years despite surveillance footage and a blood sample from the scene.
Why it matters
Investigators say the case illustrates how investigative genetic genealogy, paired with patient re-collection of discarded DNA, is increasingly closing cold cases that stalled for years on circumstantial evidence alone.
What to watch
Velasquez is being held in the Tarrant County Jail without bond as the case proceeds; her attorneys have argued she is innocent and that her constitutional rights were violated during the investigation.