Worker in Dallas Beheads his Boss

Safety at Work

Dallas, TX (WorkersCompensation.com) – A motel worker is accused of beheading his manager at the motel they both worked at, Dallas police said Friday.

The Dallas Police Department said Yordanis Cobos-Martinez, 37, allegedly used a machete to behead his boss, Chandra Nagamallaiah, 50, at the Downtown Suites motel on Samuell Boulevard. The Sept. 10 attack took place in front of Nagamallaiah’s family, officials said.

According to police reports, officers were called to the motel around 9:30 p.m. for a report of an attack. At the scene, officers found Cobos-Martinez “covered in blood and armed with a machete.”

Officials said the two had been in an argument over a translation issue when Cobos-Martinez attacked. Nagamallaiah, the hotel’s manager, had told Cobos-Martinez to stop using a broken washing machine, police records said.

"The co-worker told police the man became upset that the victim was speaking to her to translate instead of talking directly to him," the affidavit said, according to local media. "Video shows the suspect then exited the motel room and produced a machete from his person and started cutting and stabbing the complainant multiple times."

According to police, Nagamallaiah began screaming as Cobos-Martinez chased him, and ran across the parking lot to the motel’s front office.  Cobos-Martinez then continued his attack in front of Nagamallaiah’s wife and son. At one point, the manager’s son tried to fight off the attacker with a baseball bat. But Cobos-Martinez pushed the manager’s family out of the way and continued his attack until he had separated Nagamallaiah’s head from his body. Cobos-Martinez then kicked the head into the motel’s parking lot before picking it up and putting it in a dumpster.

Cobos-Martinez was still armed with the machete when police arrived and was in possession of Nagamallaiah’s key card and cell phone when he was arrested. Police said he admitted to killing Nagamallaiah during questioning.

Local media reports linked Cobos-Martinez with crimes in Houston, Texas, as well as in California and Florida. He was charged with murder. Officials said he is a Cuban national and has been placed on an ICE hold at the Dallas County Jail.

The motel’s property owners said that Nagamallaiah had worked at the motel for two or three years, and that he was a good, hard working person.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, between 2021 and 2022, there were 57,620 nonfatal cases of workplace violence requiring days away from work job restriction or transfer (DART), or about 3 cases per 10,000 full-time equivalent employees. Women account for 72.5 percent of all nonfatal workplace violence cases, with 41,750 DART cases. Women have an annualized incidence rate of 5 cases per 10,000 full-time workers, while men have a rate of 1.4 cases per 10,000 full-time workers.

When it comes to fatal workplace violence incidents, the majority of them are homicides. The BLS found in 2023 that of the 5,238 fatal workplace injuries in the US, 740 were due to violent acts. Homicides accounted for nearly 62 percent of the violent acts, and 8.7 percent of all work-related fatalities.

The BLS said it believes workplace violence is under-reported.

“Many workers report having been victims of workplace violence each year. Unfortunately, many more cases go unreported. Research has identified factors that may increase the risk of violence for some workers at certain worksites,” the agency said.

Factors like money exchanging with the public, working with volatile and unstable people contribute to workplace violence, as does working alone in isolated areas, and providing services and care and working where alcohol is served may also increase the likelihood of violent incidents. Other factors include working late at night or in areas with high crime rates, or

Industries with higher risks are workers who exchange money with the public, like cashiers; delivery and taxi/ride share drivers; healthcare professionals; social assistants; public service workers; customer service agents; law enforcement personnel; and others who may work alone or in small groups.

The BLS said employers can decrease the incidents of workplace violence by establishing a zero-tolerance policy toward violence and assessing the workplaces risk factors and identifying methods for reducing the likelihood of incidents occurring through a well-written and implemented workplace violence prevention program.

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