Dallas motel murder case: Suspect used machete, beheaded victim in front of family

A man has been arrested after a brutal beheading at a Dallas motel, with newly released court documents laying out shocking details of the attack.

The incident occurred on September 10 at the Downtown Suites motel, located just off Interstate 30 near the Tenison Golf Course. Images from SKY 4 showed crime scene tape and a partition set up around a body on the sidewalk outside the property.

Police identified the suspect as Yordanis Cobos-Martinez and the victim as 50-year-old Chandra Mouli Nagamallaiah.

According to the arrest affidavit, obtained by Fox 4 News, the violence began after a verbal dispute between Cobos-Martinez and Nagamallaiah at around 9:26 am (local time). A witness told police she and Cobos-Martinez, who both worked at the motel, were cleaning a room when Nagamallaiah approached and told them not to use a broken washing machine.

The affidavit says Cobos-Martinez became upset because Nagamallaiah spoke to the witness, who translated, rather than addressing him directly. Moments later, video footage shows the suspect leaving the room, retrieving a machete “from his person,” and attacking Nagamallaiah with multiple blows.

Nagamallaiah attempted to flee, running through the parking lot towards the motel’s front office while screaming, but Cobos-Martinez chased him down.

The affidavit said that Nagamallaiah’s wife and son, who were nearby, tried to intervene. “The suspect pushed them away several times and continued his assault,” the affidavit says.

According to police, he kept hacking until Nagamallaiah was decapitated.

The affidavit further reveals that Cobos-Martinez kicked the victim’s head into the parking lot twice before picking it up and carrying it to a dumpster, where he left it.

Records from the Dallas County Jail show that Cobos-Martinez is facing a charge of capital murder. He is being held without bond and is also subject to an immigration detainer.

The Dallas Police Department has not released additional details on whether the attack was premeditated.

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