WASHINGTON ‒ President Donald Trump said the "time for being soft" on illegal immigration is over after the gruesome death of Chandra Nagamallaiah, a motel manager in Dallas who police said was beheaded and killed by an employee in front of his wife and son.

Trump highlighted the case in a Sept. 14 post on Truth Social, making it the latest high-profile crime he's seized on as he warns of crime in U.S. cities and carries out mass deportations of immigrants who are in the country unlawfully.

Yordanis Cobos-Martinez, 37, who was charged in the killing of the 50-year-old Nagamallaiah, was in the United States illegally, according to the Department of Homeland Security, with a criminal history that includes child sex abuse, grand theft of a motor vehicle, false imprisonment and carjacking.

"I am aware of the terrible reports regarding the murder of Chandra Nagamallaiah, a well respected person in Dallas, Texas, who was brutally beheaded, in front of his wife and son, by an ILLEGAL ALIEN from Cuba who should have never been in our Country," Trump wrote in his post.

Trump blamed actions under the Biden administration for Cobos-Martinez remaining in the country. According to Homeland Security, Cobos-Martinez was released from a detention center in Texas on an order of supervision on Jan. 13 despite having a final order of removal to Cuba.

"Rest assured, the time for being soft on these Illegal Immigrant Criminals is OVER under my watch!" Trump said.

The president added: "This criminal, who we have in custody, will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law. He will be charged with murder in the first degree!"

According to police, Nagamallaiah's wife and son tried to intervene during the attack, which occurred at the Downtown Suites in Dallas. But Cobos-Martinez pushed the wife and son away and continued the attack, eventually kicking Nagamallaiah's decapitated head across the parking lot and placing it in a trash can, according to police.

Cobos-Martinez was arrested on a state capital murder charge.

As Trump pushes a crime crackdown in U.S. cities, he and his allies have zeroed in on grisly homicides like the Nagamallaiah case to argue crime in America is out of control. That includes the Aug. 22 killing of 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, who was stabbed in the neck by a homeless man while riding a rail car in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Trump recently announced that he plans to send National Guard troops to Memphis, Tennessee, to tackle crime in the city after last month deploying the Guard in Washington, DC.

Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump vows tough action after gruesome beheading of motel manager in Dallas by employee

Reporting by Joey Garrison, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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