Cuban national allegedly flew into rage when manager used translator instead of speaking Spanish directly to him
A motel manager was brutally beheaded with a machete in a shocking attack that saw the perpetrator allegedly kick the victim’s severed head around “like a soccer ball” before throwing it in a dumpster.
Yordanis Cobos-Martinez, 37, has been charged with capital murder after allegedly killing his manager Chandra Nagamallaiah, 50, during a shift at the Downtown Suites motel in Dallas on Wednesday morning, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by CBS News.
The horrifying attack reportedly stemmed from a dispute over a broken washing machine, with Nagamallaiah having told Cobos-Martinez and another worker not to use the faulty appliance. According to court documents, Cobos-Martinez became enraged when his manager used a fellow worker to translate the orders rather than speaking to him directly in Spanish.
Surveillance footage captured Cobos-Martinez exiting the room, drawing a machete from his person and launching a violent assault on his manager, police said. The victim ran screaming towards the motel’s front office where his wife and son were located, but the alleged attacker pursued him, continuing to hack at him multiple times.
When Nagamallaiah’s wife and son emerged from the office and attempted to intervene, Cobos-Martinez allegedly pushed them away several times and continued his assault until the victim’s head was severed from his body, according to the affidavit.
In a shocking development detailed in court documents, Cobos-Martinez then allegedly kicked the severed head twice into the parking lot before picking it up and carrying it to a dumpster where he disposed of it. Dallas Fire-Rescue crews who arrived at the scene found the suspect still carrying the machete and covered in blood, following him until police officers could take him into custody.
“I feel bad for his family because he got a wife, they came out and they didn’t know what to do, she was screaming, hollering, but I told her to get back because I didn’t know if he was going to attack her too,” a witness told CBS News.
Cobos-Martinez is a Cuban national who was released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody on January 13, just one week before President Trump took office, despite having an active deportation order. An ICE spokesperson told The New York Post that the suspect was released “because Cuba would not accept him because of his criminal history”.
“This barbaric criminal was released because Cuba would not accept him because of his criminal history,” the spokesperson said. “Cobos-Martinez allegedly used a machete to behead a merchant he had an argument with in front of the merchant’s spouse and child. Reportedly, Cobos-Martinez then kicked the head of the victim ‘around like a soccer ball.'”
The suspect has an extensive criminal history spanning multiple states. In 2017, he was arrested in South Lake Tahoe, California, after attempting to carjack a 22-year-old woman whilst naked. Police said he tried to drag the woman from her car and climbed inside with her still there before bystanders pulled him out.
A jury later acquitted him of carjacking but convicted him of false imprisonment, for which he was sentenced to 18 months in prison. He was placed on probation in August 2023 but absconded, leading to a probation violation warrant being issued in late 2023.
In 2018, Cobos-Martinez was charged with aggravated assault in Harris County, Texas, eventually pleading guilty to a misdemeanour assault charge and receiving a one-year sentence in county jail. He was also arrested on charges of indecency with a child through sexual contact, though that case was dismissed due to insufficient evidence.
Additional arrests in Florida included grand theft of a vehicle, which was also dismissed. At the time of the Dallas murder, Cobos-Martinez had an active warrant for probation violation out of California.
Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that cases like Cobos-Martinez are why the Trump Administration was “removing criminal illegal aliens to third countries” such as Uganda and South Sudan when their home countries refuse to accept them.
During a police interview, Cobos-Martinez allegedly admitted to the gruesome attack, with his statements corroborated by video evidence collected from the scene. Police said that during the assault, the suspect stopped to go through Nagamallaiah’s pockets, taking his mobile phone and lanyard with a key card before continuing the attack.
Lisette Suder, chief assistant district attorney of El Dorado County, California, commented on the Dallas attack: “That just shows how sick he is and how sick he has been for a long time.”
The victim in the 2017 California carjacking case told WFAA she believes the Dallas killing could have been prevented if her case had been handled differently. “What he’s done and he’s continued to do, no moral compass in his body,” the woman said. “I think he’s a horrific human being.”
A fundraiser has been established for Nagamallaiah’s family, describing the killing as “sudden and deeply traumatic”. The fundraiser page states: “His life was taken in a brutal attack that occurred in front of his wife and son, who bravely tried to protect him.”
Motel property owners told NBC 5 that Nagamallaiah had managed the establishment for two or three years and described him as a good, hardworking person. Reports indicate he was of Indian origin, with some sources identifying him as Chandramouli Nagamallaiah from Karnataka.
Cobos-Martinez is being held without bond at Dallas County Jail on a capital murder charge and an immigration hold. If convicted, he could face the death penalty or life imprisonment without parole. ICE has lodged a detainer with the Dallas County Jail, where the suspect remains in custody.
The case has reignited debates about immigration enforcement and the handling of individuals with extensive criminal histories who cannot be deported to their home countries due to lack of cooperation from those nations.
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