Yordanis Cobos-Martinez criminal history: Dallas motel beheading suspect's violent past

Dallas police arrested 37-year-old Yordanis Cobos-Martinez Wednesday, September 10, on a capital murder charge in connection with the beheading death of 50-year-old Chandra Nagamallaiah at a Dallas motel.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit, officers responded to a stabbing call around 9:30 a.m. Wednesday at a motel on Samuell Boulevard, where they found Nagamallaiah decapitated. Cobos-Martinez is currently being held in the Dallas County Jail with an immigration hold.

Also read: Who was Chandra Mouli Nagamallaiah, the Indian-origin motel manager beheaded in front of his wife and son

Dallas motel attack details and witness accounts

Cobos-Martinez had been living and working at the motel, according to police and witnesses. Witnesses told police he argued with Nagamallaiah, retrieved a machete, and began attacking him.

One woman, who asked not to be identified, described the attack. The witness said the victim fled from Cobos-Martinez but tripped and fell.



"He just started whacking at his neck," the witness said. "Once he decapitated him, he kicked the head and then he picked it up and then he threw it in the trash can. I couldn't believe he would do another human being like that."

Police arrested Cobos-Martinez minutes later, still armed with the machete and covered in blood. Investigators say he admitted in a recorded interview to killing Nagamallaiah.

ICE custody release and immigration status

Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed it assisted Dallas police during the interrogation. In a statement, ICE said, "Cobos-Martinez did the unthinkable and proceeded to kick the head around like a soccer ball."

The agency said he had been held at the Bluebonnet Detention Center in Anson until January 13, when he was released under supervision because there were "no removal flights to Cuba."

WFAA found government videos and news coverage showing deportation flights had resumed in 2023. After WFAA requested clarification, ICE said Cobos-Martinez was under a "past Final Order of Removal to Cuba."

"This barbaric criminal was released because Cuba would not accept him because of his criminal history," the statement said.

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.

Also read: Cuban immigrant Yordanis Cobos-Martinez beheads Dallas motel manager, kicks the severed head and throws it in a dumpster

Yordanis Cobos-Martinez criminal history timeline

Court records show Cobos-Martinez has a violent history stretching back years. In 2017, he was arrested in South Lake Tahoe, California, after attempting to carjack a 22-year-old woman while naked, according to KRNV.

Police said he tried to drag the woman from her car, climbed inside with her still there, and attempted to steal it before bystanders pulled him out. He was charged with carjacking and false imprisonment, booked into the El Dorado County Jail, and later released on bail.

The victim in the California case told WFAA that he showed up for one of the court dates and then fled.

"I was disappointed with the way it was handled," she said. "He is a dangerous man."

Texas assault and indecency charges

The following year, he was arrested in Harris County on indecency with a child charges. That charge was dismissed due to insufficient evidence, said Stephen Touchstone, an attorney who represented him in the case. Touchstone also said no immigration hold was placed on Cobos-Martinez during his time in the Harris County Jail.

A few months later, he was charged with aggravated assault after he was accused of breaking a jailer's jaw during a fight.

In 2023, he pled guilty to a misdemeanor assault and received a one-year sentence, though court records show he was credited with more than 1,700 days already served, nearly five years, indicating he may have been jailed for years awaiting trial.

California conviction and probation violation

Within days of that plea, he was extradited back to California. A jury acquitted him of carjacking but convicted him of false imprisonment. He was placed on probation in August 2023, but prosecutors say he absconded, and a violation order was issued in late 2023.

Also read: Iryna Zarutska stabbing case: Knifeman’s dark, disturbing motive for killing Ukrainian refugee will haunt

"That just shows how sick he is and how sick he has been for a long time," said Lisette Suder, chief assistant district attorney of El Dorado County said of the Dallas attack.

At some point after that, Cobos-Martinez was again taken into immigration custody, though ICE has not disclosed when or how.

The victim in the California 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."