Prosecutor: Suspects in kidnapping of twins befriended mom, stole infants from hotel room

DETROIT (FOX 2) - The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office announced charges against three people for the kidnapping of twin infants on Sunday and said the defendants befriended the new mom, all with the intention of taking their children.

Curtis Lee Slay, 18, Davion Demetrius Sherman Chandler, 19, and Shantell Re-Azia Jones, 23, all of Detroit, were charged with the kidnapping of the 14-day-old infants late Sunday night from a Livonia hotel room.

According to Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy's office, the three suspects all befriended the mom of the newborns with the intention of kidnapping them. No other details about the motive were released. A fourth suspect, a 16-year-old girl, is also facing charges but a decision will made on that next week.

Davion Demetrius Sherman Chandler, 19

The women were allegedly caught on camera inside the Livonia hotel with their faces concealed by hoods, walking out with the babies. Worthy said the suspects kidnapped the children from the hotel room when their mother left the room briefly. It's unclear how the men factor into the kidnapping.

After retuning to her room, the 30-year-old mother called 911 and an Amber Alert was issued.

"Every day and every minute, it's something different, it's new stuff coming in and coming in," said Yvette McDonald, grandmother to Montana and Matthew Bridges, the brothers who were only 14 days old when they were taken.

The twins were both safely returned after being delivered to Detroit's 9th Precinct Monday.

Shantell Re-Azia, 23

McDonald and other family members have told FOX 2 the twins' mother was looking for help caring for the infants and had befriended the suspects on social media. She thinks they were targeted because they previously moved from their home in Detroit after a violent break-in.

"They befriended her on Facebook, like ‘we will help you, we will do this and that for you,’ but it's fake," said McDonald.

Slay, Chandler, and Re-Azia are all charged with two counts of kidnapping and one count of conspiracy to commit kidnapping. They will be arraigned Thursday in Wayne County.

Curtis Lee Slay, 18

" It is hard to imagine a worse scenario for a new mother. The evidence in this case will show that these defendants engaged in a scheme to dupe the mother of these barely two-week-old babies. They allegedly promised her some much-needed assistance to gain access to her children with the express intent on stealing them," Worthy said in a statement.

The family also set up a gofundme that can be found here.