A Cuban national, reportedly in the U.S. illegally and aged 37, is accused of decapitating his Dallas manager in front of the victim’s wife and son.
According to police, Yordanis Cobos-Martinez became enraged on Wednesday after his boss at Downtown Suites asked another staff member to help translate a job instruction while they were cleaning a room.
The second employee informed authorities that Cobos-Martinez was agitated because their manager, Chandra Nagamallaiah, did not communicate with him directly in Spanish, as noted in an arrest affidavit referenced by CBS News.
Cobos-Martinez allegedly reacted by attacking Nagamallaiah with a machete. Police state he pursued his employer to the motel office, where Nagamallaiah’s wife and son were present. Despite their efforts to intervene, police report that Cobos-Martinez decapitated the manager.
Accounts of the incident mention that the assailant kicked the severed head into the motel parking lot before disposing of it in a garbage container. First responders reportedly found Cobos-Martinez with blood on him.
He is charged with capital murder and was detained at Dallas County Jail, where he has caught the attention of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Speaking with the New York Post, ICE officials noted that due to his criminal history, the Biden administration released Cobos-Martinez last January after Cuba refused to accept him back.
Cobos-Martinez has a criminal history in the U.S. that reportedly includes aggravated assault and attempted carjacking.
