Trump Condemns Death of Man Beheaded by Illegal Immigrant in Texas

WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump on Sept. 15 expressed recrimination over the alleged beheading of a motel manager in Texas by an illegal immigrant who had been released from custody after being ordered deported from the United States.

Yordanis Cobos-Martinez, 37, is a Cuban citizen who illegally immigrated to the United States, where he has committed several felonies.

Cobos-Martinez is alleged to have used a machete on Sept. 10 to decapitate Chandra Mouli Nagamallaiah, 40, the manager of a motel in Dallas, in front of Nagamallaiah’s wife and son. Footage of the incident shows him kicking Nagamallaiah’s head.

Trump, in a social media message on Truth Social, criticized the Biden administration for releasing Cobos-Martinez into the country despite a final order of removal issued against him. He also said that Cobos-Martinez would be charged with first-degree murder.

“I am aware of the terrible reports regarding the murder of Chandra Nagamallaiah, a well respected person in Dallas, Texas, who was brutally beheaded, in front of his wife and son, by an ILLEGAL ALIEN from Cuba who should have never been in our Country,” Trump wrote.

“This individual was previously arrested for terrible crimes, including child sex abuse, grand theft auto, and false imprisonment, but was released back into our Homeland under incompetent Joe Biden because Cuba did not want such an evil person in their Country.”

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said in a statement that Cobos-Martinez had been released from custody on Jan. 13 because Cuba refused to accept him on account of his U.S. criminal record.

When an illegal alien cannot be removed to any country, he or she may be released from civil custody—given that removal proceedings are civil in nature—to prevent indefinite detention, which the Supreme Court has prohibited.

A detention record shows that Cobos-Martinez has been charged with capital murder and is being held on a $1 million bond. Separately, ICE has lodged an immigration detainer against him, which prevents his release regardless of a bond being posted.

Nagamallaiah’s death, which occurred on the same day as the assassination of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, has generated outrage due to the gruesome nature of the crime. Given the victim’s Indian heritage, Indian Americans in particular have criticized the circumstances of his death.

“The murderer had multiple prior arrests for violent theft & child endangerment & was undocumented. He should not have been free on American streets,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) wrote on X.

Trump stated: “This criminal, who we have in custody, will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law. He will be charged with murder in the first degree!”

A GoFundMe page for Nagamallaiah’s wife and son, set up in the wake of the murder, has raised more than $340,000.