A Cuban national, Yordanis Cobos-Martinez, has been arrested in Dallas, Texas, after allegedly beheading motel manager Chandra Nagamallaiah in front of his family.
CCTV footage circulating on social media shows Cobos-Martinez leaving a motel room, pulling out a machete, and attacking the unsuspecting victim.
Nagamallaiah, 50, tried to flee, screaming for help, as his wife and son rushed outside.
The attacker pursued him, striking repeatedly before decapitating him. Witnesses reported that Cobos-Martinez then threw the victim’s severed head into a trash can, an act captured both on surveillance and by bystanders’ cameras.
According to an affidavit obtained by CNN, the incident began after Nagamallaiah, speaking through a translator, asked Cobos-Martinez not to use a broken washing machine. The suspect, who worked at the motel, allegedly flew into a rage over the exchange.
Dallas police confirmed that Cobos-Martinez has been charged with capital murder by terror threat and is being held without bond.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) later revealed that he is an undocumented immigrant with a final order of removal from the U.S. and a criminal history including charges of child sex abuse, carjacking, false imprisonment, and grand theft.
The gruesome killing drew swift political reaction. In a Truth Social post, President Donald Trump condemned the attack, vowing harsher action against undocumented offenders.
“The time for being soft on these Illegal Immigrant Criminals is OVER under my watch,” Trump wrote, adding that Cobos-Martinez had been “previously arrested” and released under the Biden administration.
Trump further stated the suspect would be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and face first-degree murder charges.