Washington: Former US President Donald Trump has reacted strongly to the shocking killing of Chandra Nagamallaiah, an Indian national who was brutally beheaded in Dallas, Texas, last week by an undocumented Cuban immigrant. Trump called for the accused to be prosecuted to the “fullest extent of the law” and vowed to make “America safe again,” pledging that his administration would no longer be “soft” on illegal immigrant criminals.
“I am aware of the terrible reports regarding the murder of Chandra Nagamallaiah, a well-respected man in Dallas, who was brutally beheaded in front of his wife and son by an illegal alien from Cuba who should never have been in our country,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
On September 10, 41-year-old Nagamallaiah was attacked at the Downtown Suites motel on Samuell Boulevard. The accused, 37-year-old Yordanis Cobos-Martinez, allegedly decapitated Nagamallaiah and left his head in a trash bin. CCTV footage from the motel, which circulated widely on social media, reportedly shows Martinez attacking Nagamallaiah with a machete in front of the victim’s wife and 18-year-old son. The video shows Martinez chasing Nagamallaiah, continuing the assault until he was decapitated, and then placing the victim’s head into a dumpster.
Martinez has been charged with capital murder. The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has initiated his removal from the country.
Trump and DHS officials criticized the Biden administration for allegedly allowing the accused immigrant to be released into the community despite his criminal history. Trump highlighted that Martinez had previously been arrested for “terrible crimes,” including child sex abuse, grand theft auto, and false imprisonment, but was released under the Biden administration because Cuba did not want him back. “The time for being soft on these illegal immigrant criminals is OVER under my watch,” Trump wrote.
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin echoed Trump’s comments, saying the killing “was completely preventable if this criminal illegal alien was not released into our country by the Biden administration.” According to DHS records, Martinez was in ICE Dallas custody at the Bluebonnet Detention Centre until his release on January 13, 2025, under an Order of Supervision issued during the Biden administration.
The grisly incident has reignited the national debate over immigration enforcement and the handling of undocumented immigrants with criminal histories in the United States.
