to strangle someone by squeezing their throat (see Molina)
Alonso de Molina:
quechmateloa. nite. (pret. onitequechmatelo.) ahogar a otro apretandole la garganta conlas manos. Alonso de Molina, Vocabulario en lengua castellana y mexicana y mexicana y castellana, 1571, part 2, Nahuatl to Spanish, f. 88r. col. 2. Thanks to Joe Campbell for providing the transcription.