ICE calls for removal of man accused of beheading another man with machete at Dallas motel

By Nic F. Anderson, CNN

(CNN) — A Cuban national, who officials say is in the US illegally, has admitted to using a machete to kill a man in Dallas, according to a court affidavit filed in the case.

The suspect is accused of attacking and ultimately beheading another man in a violent incident at an area motel Wednesday.

Dallas police identified the suspect as Yordanis Cobos-Martinez, who is being held without bond on a charge of capital murder by terror threat. CNN has been unable to verify whether formal charges have been filed.

CNN has reached out to Cobos-Martinez’s attorney but has not yet received a response.

Police say Cobos-Martinez was cleaning a room with an unnamed witness as the incident unfolded. The witness told police Cobos-Martinez became upset when the victim, Chandra Nagamallaiah, used the unidentified witness to translate his request to not use a broken washing machine instead of speaking to him directly, according to the affidavit.

Surveillance video shows Cobos-Martinez leaving the motel room, pulling out a machete and attacking Nagamallaiah. After the victim ran, the attack continued outside – in front of the victim’s wife and son – both of whom attempted to intervene, according to the affidavit. After beheading Nagamallaiah, Cobos-Martinez allegedly placed the victim’s head in a dumpster.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued a statement Thursday announcing it had lodged a detainer for the federal arrest and removal of Cobos-Martinez, whom ICE called a “depraved criminal illegal alien from Cuba.”

The beheading comes amid the Trump administration pointing at crimes committed by undocumented people as reasoning behind the recent immigration crackdowns across the United States.

Several other killings have proven to become flashpoints in the debate over immigration and border security, including those of Laken Riley and Katie Abraham.

“This is exactly why we are removing criminal illegal aliens to third countries. President Trump and Secretary Noem are no longer allowing barbaric criminals to indefinitely remain in America,” Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin said.

Cobos-Martinez was previously held in ICE Dallas custody at the Bluebonnet Detention Center but was released on an order of supervision on January 13 “because Cuba would not accept him because of his criminal history,” according to ICE. CNN has reached out to the Cuban Consulate in the US to verify this accusation.

Cobos-Martinez’s criminal history includes “child sex abuse, grand theft of a motor vehicle, false imprisonment and carjacking,” according to ICE, but did not produce any documentation indicating when or where any of these prior accusations took place, or whether any resulted in a finding of guilt upon CNN request.

Leah Thomeer and Priscilla Alvarez contributed to this report.

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