Prosecutors Drop Death Penalty For Cuban Who Beheaded Motel Owner

India-West News Desk

DALLAS, TX — The Cuban national accused of the gruesome beheading of Texas motel owner Chandra Nagamallaiah in September will not face the death penalty, prosecutors confirmed this week, raising questions about the handling of violent crimes committed by non-citizens in the United States.

The decision not to pursue the death penalty comes despite President Donald Trump publicly vowing swift and severe action after the horrific killing of Nagamallaiah and his drive against illegal immigrants.

Yordanis Cobos-Martinez, 37, an undocumented immigrant with a long criminal history, was initially indicted on a capital murder charge shortly after the attack. However, District Attorney John Creuzot’s office, citing the complications of seeking the death penalty for a non-citizen whose home country may not cooperate, announced that the case will proceed with life imprisonment without parole as the maximum sentence.

Cobos-Martinez’s criminal record stretches across multiple states. In 2017, he was arrested in Florida for grand theft auto, though the charges were later dropped. That same year, he was convicted in California of attempting to carjack a woman while nude, fled the state while on bail, and faced further arrests for indecency with a child in Harris County in 2018. In 2023, California authorities extradited him to face charges related to the 2017 carjacking; he was acquitted of carjacking but convicted of false imprisonment, and again fled while on probation.

His immigration status has complicated legal proceedings. Cobos-Martinez was taken into federal custody for removal to Cuba, but his deportation could not proceed because Cuban authorities reportedly refused to accept him due to his criminal record.