DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Two women have been charged with helping three men escape from the DeKalb County Jail days before Christmas.
Melayna Whatley, 30, and Gabriela Ortis, 22, were federally indicted on charges of conspiracy to assist escape, assisting escape and concealing an escaped prisoner.
Stevenson Charles, Yusuf Minor and Noad Yohannes escaped from the jail on Dec. 21, 2025. They were back in custody several days later.
Charles was serving a life sentence for carjacking, kidnapping, bank robbery and more.
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Whatley is accused of arranging a getaway driver for the men, letting them use her phone and stay in her home the night they escaped.
Ortis is accused of organizing a Lyft driver for the escaped inmates.
After the three men got in the Lyft, they kidnapped the driver, according to prosecutors. They say the men put something around her neck, dragged her into the backseat, tied her hands together and drove her 700 miles to Broward County, Florida.
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Charles and Yohannes have been found guilty by federal juries of conspiracy to commit kidnapping, kidnapping, and Hobbs Act robbery. Minor pleaded guilty to the same crimes.
Charles was also convicted on a charge of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
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