Suspect charged with capital murder for decapitating co-worker in US state of Texas

HOUSTON, United States

A man is in police custody Thursday after being charged with capital murder in a gruesome machete attack and decapitation of his co-worker in the US state of Texas.

In a criminal complaint obtained by Anadolu, Dallas police said Yordanis Cobos-Martinez, 37, got into an argument with Chandra Nagamallaiah, 50, on Wednesday at the Downtown Suites motel, where both men worked in housekeeping.

Investigators said a third employee who witnessed the incident told them that while trying to translate Nagamallaiah’s message to Cobos-Martinez that he should not use the facility's washing machine because it was broken, Cobos-Martinez got angry because Nagamallaiah was not speaking to him directly, which prompted the violent response.

Video footage from the motel showed Cobos-Martinez leaving the room, returning with a machete, and then stabbing and cutting Nagamallaiah multiple times with the weapon.

Police said Nagamallaiah screamed as he ran away from his attacker, heading toward the front office as Cobos-Martinez chased after him. Once the suspect caught up to Nagamallaiah, he continued to stab and cut him. Nagamallaiah's wife and son tried to stop the attack, but investigators said Cobos-Martinez pushed them away and continued his attack in a horrific manner.

"The suspect then continued to cut the complainant multiple times until his head was removed from his body," Officer Cody Clark wrote in the criminal affidavit.

"The suspect then kicked the complainant's head twice into the parking lot and proceeded to pick it up and carry it to the dumpster and put it inside," Clark continued.

Fire and rescue crews arriving at the scene observed Nagamallaiah fleeing the area covered in blood with the machete still in his hand. They directed the arriving police officers to the suspect's location and he was later arrested possessing Nagamallaiah's lanyard, key card and cell phone, which he had taken from the victim during the attack.

Cobos-Martinez was arrested and taken to Dallas Police Headquarters. He is charged with capital murder, and court records showed that he is also on an immigration hold.

During a video interview, detectives said Cobos-Martinez confessed to killing Nagamallaiah with the machete.

Previous court records obtained by news outlets showed that Cobos-Martinez had a violent rap sheet, including a 2018 felony aggravated assault charge and a misdemeanor assault charge in which he was sentenced to one year in the Harris County jail near Houston.

Cobos-Martinez was also arrested in 2023 on an out-of-state fugitive warrant for a series of crimes he was accused of committing in the state of California, including carjacking, false imprisonment and failure to appear in court.