Nicholas Dominici was supposed to be two years old in November
A kilo of fentanyl was found under mats at a New York daycare where one child died and three others were taken to hospital, police said.
Police believe the children, aged between 8 months and two years, inhaled the powerful narcotic at the Bronx daycare last week.
Three children were given Narcan, an emergency medication used to reverse an opioid overdose.
Drug conspiracy and murder charges have been filed against two people.
Nicholas Dominici, who would have been two years old in November and had only attended daycare for a week, died Friday of a suspected drug overdose.
A search of the daycare turned up a kilogram of fentanyl that was discovered “under a rug where the children were sleeping earlier,” NYPD Chief Detective Joseph Kenny said Monday.
They also discovered three presses used to package kilos of medicine, according to investigators.
Image source, Getty Images
Grei Mendez’s lawyer says she didn’t know there were drugs in the nursery
The owner of the Divino Niño daycare in the Bronx, Grei Mendez, 36, and her tenant Carlisto Acevedo Brito, 41, face federal charges of possession of narcotics “with intent to distribute resulting in death and conspiracy with a view to distributing narcotics causing death. according to federal prosecutors.
“The defendants poisoned four babies and killed one of them because they were running a drug operation from a daycare,” Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damien Williams said at a news conference Tuesday.
Fentanyl, a synthetic painkiller 50 times more potent than heroin, has been blamed for the increase in drug-related deaths.
Surveillance footage and call records show that Ms. Mendez called her husband after finding the children sick – moments before contacting 911. Her husband then arrived and removed several full shopping bags from the nursery, officials said.
Authorities are still searching for her husband, who was identified in court documents as a co-conspirator.
A lawyer for Ms. Mendez said his client denied the accusations and was unaware that drugs were kept in the nursery.
“His only crime was renting his room to someone who had a pound,” said his lawyer, Andres Aranda, according to ABC News.
“There is no evidence that she did anything other than properly care for these children.”
It is unclear whether Mr. Brito, cousin of Ms. Mendez’s husband, has a lawyer.
Both suspects have been labeled flight risks by authorities and are being held without bail. They each face life in prison if convicted.
City health inspectors made a surprise visit to the daycare on September 6, but did not identify any violations, said municipal health commissioner Ashwin Vasan.
“I’m really sorry, but one of the things my child care inspectors aren’t trained to do is look for fentanyl. But maybe they need it,” he said Monday during a press conference.
Mayor Eric Adams, at the news conference, called for an “all-out national attack” on the drug and hinted at its power.
“One-tenth the size of a fingernail can kill an adult. So imagine what that could do to a child,” he said, holding up a photo showing a lethal dose compared to a penny.
Virtually every corner of the United States, from Hawaii to Alaska to Rhode Island, has been affected by fentanyl, research shows.
In 2010, fewer than 40,000 people died of drug overdoses nationwide, and fewer than 10 percent of those deaths were linked to fentanyl.
In 2021, more than 100,000 people died from drug overdoses, about 66% of which were related to fentanyl.
Expert: Fentanyl crisis has ‘only gotten worse’
