1-year-old Died at Childcare after Fentanyl Exposure, Suspects make 1st Court Appearance
New York City, NY: A one-year-old kid died from Fentanyl exposure in New York City. The incident happened in a Bronx daycare in 2023.
The daycare owner from Kingsbridge and her husband are scheduled to make an appearance in court on Tuesday about the fentanyl-induced death of the child.
After the September 2023 death of 1-year-old Nicholas Dominici at the Kingsbridge daycare, Grei Mendez and her husband Felix Herrera Garcia were arrested on several counts.
Under a trapdoor at the nursery, police allegedly discovered a significant amount of narcotics, including fentanyl. The potent narcotic was also responsible for the hospitalization of three additional children.
They face multiple counts, including murder and illegal possession of a controlled drug.
The two men accused of murder and drug charges in Nicholas Dominici’s death, Carlisto Acevedo Brito and Grei Mendez, entered not-guilty pleas.
Three other children were hospitalized after being exposed to the substance; investigators believe the four suspects were spreading the narcotic out of Divino Nino Day Care; Dominici died of a fentanyl overdose on Sept. 15.
“This was not really a daycare center. This was a drugs operation, and they used babies as a shield,” Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark said.
A kilo of fentanyl and several presses used to process it were discovered in a cupboard, according to the prosecution. Police also found a hidden room behind a trap door that held almost five kilos of narcotics.
The relatives of the four elementary school students who were poisoned with fentanyl at the daycare in the Bronx were present in the courtroom and at the subsequent news conference. Nicholas Dominici’s father stated that he and his wife had finally found a reliable daycare for their one-year-old son.
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Fresh images shot within the daycare facility were submitted by the Bronx district attorney. First responders, not the daycare proprietors, utilized Narcan to save the lives of the children in their care; one photo reveals what appears to be an unused container of the medicine.
Last week, Herrera-Garcia was apprehended following his capture in Mexico. His initial court appearance was on Thursday afternoon in federal court, where he faced charges of conspiracy to distribute narcotics resulting in death.
The next court date for Mendez, Acevedo Brito, and Herrera-Garcia is November 27. They face a sentencing of fifteen to life in prison.
