Two inmates mistakenly released in Meck. County back in custody: Sheriff’s Office

CHARLOTTE ( QUEEN CITY NEWS ) — An investigation is underway after two inmates were erroneously released on Friday, September 6, according to the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO).

On Friday morning, Mr. Jose Rivera-Martinez and Mrs. Reyna Ulloa-Martinez were taken from Georgia to the MCSO’s Arrest Processing Center (APC) in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Upon arrival, MCSO personnel reportedly asked the Georgia ICE officers if there was any paperwork stating the two needed to stay in jail (writs) and ICE reportedly said no.

The Martinezs were served warrants for felony accessory after the fact to first-degree murder and appeared before a magistrate, who issued them unsecured bonds, unaware that they both were to be held in custody and returned to Georgia, according to authorities. The duo were then released.

That afternoon, MCSO says they learned of the hold and return order and worked with local law enforcement to find Mr. and Mrs. Martinez. However, the Martinezs were nowhere to be found over the weekend.

Monday afternoon, the pair showed up for their court date for the accessory charges and were rearrested. They were given secured bonds for the accessory charges, but will not be released until these local charges are resolved. At that time, they will be returned to ICE in Georgia.

According to jail records, Jose Rivera-Martinez is from Conway, South Carolina and Reyna Ulloa-Martinez is from Myrtle Beach, S.C. It is unclear how the two know each other and what case their accessory charges are linked to.

“When it was discovered that Mr. and Mrs. Martinez were released on Friday without knowledge of the writs that should have held them – MCSO and our local law enforcement partners went immediately into action to try to find them and take them back into custody,” said Sheriff McFadden. “It was a stressful weekend, not knowing where the Martinezes were. But thankfully they appeared for court this afternoon and we were able to take them back into custody. We are also still investigating what took place regarding the Martinezes coming into the APC without writs, and we are committed to ensuring better communication with transport officers so that individuals with court-ordered detention holds are not erroneously released in the future.”

This incident comes almost a year and a half since murder suspect Jaylan Davis was released by mistake from the Mecklenburg County Detention Center. He later turned himself in and an escape charge was dropped .

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