An autopsy confirmed that the Death of a toddler in a New York daycare center A fentanyl overdose occurred earlier this month.
On September 15, 36-year-old Grei Mendez, who ran El Divino Niño daycare out of an apartment in the Bronx, called police and reported that some of the children at her daycare were unresponsive. The children were taken to the hospital and treated for what doctors determined were symptoms of opioid poisoning.
One of the children, Nicholas Feliz-Dominici, was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital. The New York medical examiner’s office confirmed Friday that the one-year-old died of acute fentanyl intoxication. CBS News reported.
During a search of the apartment, police found “large quantities of fentanyl,” including one kilogram of fentanyl stored on a children’s play mat, as well as “machinery and paraphernalia used to package narcotics.” A further search revealed a secret compartment containing large quantities of fentanyl and other drugs found.
Mendez was arrested on federal drug charges in this case and is also facing trial Allegations of state murder. According to the Associated PressThree other people were arrested on federal charges in connection with this case, including Mendez’s husband Felix Herrera Garcia, 34, who fled the day of the incident.
Prosecutors say Mendez called Herrera Garcia and another staff member before calling 911 on Sept. 15 to report the unresponsive children. Mendez also reportedly deleted about 21,526 of mineMessages between her and her husband from March 2021 via an encrypted app.
“Parents entrusted Grei Mendez with the care of their children,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement opinion. Instead of conscientiously caring for the well-being of these children, she and her co-conspirators allegedly placed them directly in harm’s way by running a drug operation and stockpiling deadly fentanyl from the room where the children ate, slept, etc. played. Mendez and her co-conspirators’ disregard for the lives of the children in her care is simply shocking.”