Democratic Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot’s office will not seek the death penalty against an illegal immigrant charged with beheading a motel manager with a machete in front of his family in Dallas, prosecutors told a court in November.
Yordanas Cobos-Maritnez was indicted on a capital murder charge after allegedly beheading Chandra Nagamallaiah on Sept. 10, Fox 4 reported. The DA’s office claimed that Cobos-Martinez’s status as an illegal immigrant could complicate efforts to secure the prosecution, according to the Times Of India, but said a final decision would not be made until Jan. 8, 2026.
“Based on our investigation and my conversations, the state of Texas is not seeking the death penalty,” prosecutor Julie Johnson told the court during a Nov. 20 hearing. “But we reserve the right to change our mind should anything come up.”
Police say that Cobos-Martinez attacked Nagamallaiah after he asked Cobos-Martinez’s co-worker to translate a request not to use a broken washing machine. Surveillance footage then showed Cobos-Martinez pulling out a machete and attacking Nagamallaiah, the Dallas Express reported, before he kicked the motel manager’s head like a soccer ball before tossing it into a dumpster.
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“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,” President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social days after the murder.
“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,” Trump continued.
Most of the past charges against Cobos-Martinez were dropped, but he was convicted on a lesser charge after being tried in California for a carjacking, according to the Dallas Express.
“Yordanis Cobos-Martinez has a past final order of removal to Cuba,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a Sept. 12 press release. “He was most recently in ICE Dallas custody at the Bluebonnet Detention Center until he was released on an Order of Supervision on January 13, 2025—under the Biden administration. This barbaric criminal was released because Cuba would not accept him because of his criminal history.”
ICE issued a detainer for Cobos-Martinez on Sept. 14, according to CNN.
“This vile monster beheaded this man in front of his wife and child and proceeded to kick the victim’s head on the ground,” Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin said in the DHS release. “This gruesome, savage slaying of a victim at a motel by Yordanis Cobos-Martinez was completely preventable if this criminal illegal alien was not released into our country by the Biden Administration.”
Creuzot, who was first elected in 2018, received massive donations from the Texas Justice and Public Safety PAC, which is funded by left-wing billionaire George Soros, in the 2022 election according to campaign disclosure documents.
Creuzot previously came under fire for refusing to prosecute thefts under $750 until 2022 and released 56% of those suspected of violent crime in Dallas County on bail or their own recognizance, including a third of those facing murder charges, the Dallas Express reported. In one case, Creuzot dropped charges against a man arrested on sexual assault and trafficking charges involving a 15-year-old girl.
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