President Trump and Vivek Ramaswamy. / Reuters/file photo

Trump called the killing of 50-year-old Indian American hotel manager Chandra Mouli Nagamallaiah in Dallas, Texas, “terrible”. Writing on Truth Social, he said the crime was committed by “an ILLEGAL ALIEN from Cuba who should have never been in our Country,” noting the suspect’s history of serious crimes.

Trump vowed that under his leadership, “the time for being soft on these Illegal Immigrant Criminals is OVER.”

Community outrage led to the arrest of Yordanis Cobos-Martinez. Turns out, this perpetrator — an illegal immigrant from Cuba — has a rap sheet including child sex abuse, grand theft of a motor vehicle, false imprisonment and carjacking, according to the Homeland Security.

 On Sept.12, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced that Cobos-Martinez is being charged with murder. “This vile monster beheaded this man in front of his wife and child and proceeded to kick the victims’ head on the ground. 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 since Cuba would not take him back,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin.

She added: “This is exactly why we are removing criminal illegal aliens to third countries. President Trump and Secretary Noem are no longer allowing barbaric criminals to indefinitely remain in America. If you come to our country illegally, you could end up in Eswatini, Uganda, South Sudan, or CECOT.”

Cobos-Martinez has a past final order of removal to Cuba. 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.

Republican figure Vivek Ramaswamy also reacted strongly to the incident in a series of posts on X, criticizing the handling of the suspect’s immigration status and urging stronger enforcement of the law. “An innocent Dallas hotel manager was brutally beheaded in front of his wife & son, by an illegal migrant who had a final order of removal & such a bad criminal history that Cuba refused to accept him,” he wrote. “He was released on Jan 13, right before Biden left office. This is horrific. It’s time to restore the rule of law.”

 

It’s unconscionable. The murderer’s violent criminal history was so bad that Cuba refused to accept him, yet he remained in the U.S. despite a final court order of removal. The fact this isn’t a bigger story shows how numb we’ve become to preventable violence. This has to end. https://t.co/7sGBxAXSNX

— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) September 13, 2025

In another post, Ramaswamy added, “It’s unconscionable. The murderer’s violent criminal history was so bad that Cuba refused to accept him, yet he remained in the U.S. despite a final court order of removal. The fact this isn’t a bigger story shows how numb we’ve become to preventable violence. This has to end.”

Grisly details of the killing

Nagamallaiah, who managed a motel in Dallas, was killed on Sept. 10 by employee Cobos-Martinez. According to an arrest affidavit, the confrontation began when Nagamallaiah told Cobos-Martinez not to use a broken washing machine and asked another staff member to translate the instructions. Witnesses told police that Cobos-Martinez, angered by this, left the room, returned with a machete, and attacked Nagamallaiah repeatedly.

Cobos-Martinez, 37, a Cuban national, has been charged with capital murder and is being held at Dallas County Jail. Records show he has prior convictions, including a 2017 carjacking in South Lake Tahoe while naked, for which he was convicted in 2023. He also faced charges of indecency and assault with a child in 2018. At the time of the murder, he had an active warrant for probation violation in California.

Krishnamoorthi condemns too

Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08) also issued a statement on the murder. “I am horrified by the brutal murder of Chandra Nagamallaiah, a hardworking Indian American immigrant killed in Dallas in front of his wife and son,” he said. “My deepest condolences go to his family. The perpetrator must be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”