MACON, Ga. — There are now five people accused of helping four men who escaped the Bibb County jail Oct. 16.
Many of them now sit in jail themselves. Thursday afternoon, Tymesha Timley left the jail on a $55,000 bond, according to her lawyer's office. The Bibb County Sheriff's Office jail logs confirm she left at 3:41 p.m.
Timley is charged with hindering apprehension and aiding and permitting another to escape. Mykia Williams and Jakaylen Williams face aiding and permitting charges, but Jacorshia Smith and Janecia Green, the two arrested this week, are charged with aiding and abetting.
"Aiding is the same thing as helping. 'I helped them escape by doing something that helped them escape,'" former Fulton County Assistant District Attorney Darryl Cohen explained.
Cohen says the key word is 'aiding.' Whether it's aiding and abetting or aiding and hindering, he says it's the same penalty in the eyes of the law.
To be charged with aiding, law enforcement must have some reason to believe someone knew about a crime in advance.
"A lot of people think of it as a conspiracy," Cohen explained.
Based on Cohen's explanation, it's likely law enforcement believes the five charged knew something about the escape before it happened. That doesn't necessarily mean they were heavily involved in planning. Cohen says even someone who knows seconds before a crime happens and goes through with it anyway can be charged with aiding.
Even if someone was just there at the time the crime happened, they could be charged, he says. Cohen offers this example of a bank robbery: "Because the person who was driving this car drove this other person to the bank, because they drove this other person from the bank and they left, they can be charged as a party to the crime as if they actually went into the bank and robbed the bank."
That means they often face the same penalty as the person who committed the crime. In this case, 13WMAZ reported each person involved, from escapee to accused helper, faces about five years if convicted.
Timley's hindering apprehension charge adds a different layer.
"Hindering is, 'I know it already happened. I'm going to do everything I can to save them, to keep them out of jail,'" Cohen said.
Green also faces federal aiding and permitting escape charges. The Bibb County Sheriff's Office says Jacorshia Smith will also likely face federal charges.