President Donald Trump on Sunday blamed former President Joe Biden for allowing an undocumented migrant to remain in the United States after the suspect was arrested in the brutal slaying of a Dallas motel manager last week.
Trump wrote on his social platform that the accused, identified by authorities as 37-year-old Yordanis Cobos-Martinez, “should have never been in our Country” and accused the Biden administration of being “incompetent” for releasing the man from immigration custody. Trump added that the case demonstrates the end of being “soft on these Illegal Immigrant Criminals” under his watch and vowed the suspect “will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law.”
Cobos-Martinez has been charged with capital murder in the death of Chandra Nagamallaiah, a manager at the Downtown Suites motel, according to court records and local law enforcement. Dallas police said the attack occurred on Wednesday morning; an arrest affidavit described surveillance footage showing Cobos-Martinez seize a machete and repeatedly strike Nagamallaiah while the two were in a motel room and later in the motel office.
Police said Nagamallaiah fled to the office, where his wife and son attempted to help him, but that Cobos-Martinez continued the attack. Authorities said the victim’s head was severed and the suspect later kicked it into the parking lot and into a dumpster. Witnesses called 911 and officers located Cobos-Martinez blocks away, covered in the victim’s blood and still holding a machete, officials said.
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman previously told media outlets that Cobos-Martinez had been in the custody of ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations at the Bluebonnet Detention Center in Anson but was released from that custody on Jan. 13. ICE officials did not provide further public details about the circumstances of his release in the comments reported by outlets covering the case. Cobos-Martinez is a Cuban national, according to law enforcement statements.
Court records show Cobos-Martinez is being held without bond. He was booked on a charge of capital murder, the records indicate. Local prosecutors will determine whether to pursue capital charges as the case proceeds through the Dallas County court system.
Dallas police and court filings indicate Cobos-Martinez has a prior criminal history in Texas and other states. He was charged in Harris County in 2018 with aggravated assault but pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge and served a one-year jail sentence, records show. Authorities also previously flagged a California warrant for carjacking, false imprisonment and failure to appear, and he was extradited there to face those charges. Law enforcement records cited in news reports indicate a 2017 arrest in South Lake Tahoe after an attempt to carjack a woman.
Investigators have relied on surveillance footage and witness statements in compiling the affidavit that led to Cobos-Martinez’s arrest. Officials have not released additional forensic details publicly, and prosecutors have not yet filed formal notices about pursuing the death penalty.
The slaying prompted swift public reaction from political leaders and sharp commentary from Trump, who called the killing “barbaric” and said the suspect had a history of “terrible crimes, including child sex abuse.” The allegation of child sex abuse was cited by Trump on his platform; local criminal records reviewed by reporters list prior assault-related convictions but do not detail a publicly filed child sex abuse conviction tied to Cobos-Martinez.
Local authorities urged that the case proceed through normal criminal and immigration processes. A Dallas County spokesperson said prosecutors will review the investigation file and follow statutory procedures as they prepare charges for court. ICE officials referred questions about custody and release procedures to agency statements previously provided to media.
As the investigation continues, officials have asked anyone with additional information or relevant video to contact Dallas police. The case is expected to draw continued scrutiny from immigration and criminal justice policymakers amid ongoing national debate over border enforcement and detention practices.
