The owner of the Bronx daycare center where a one-year-old child died of fentanyl poisoning Friday was arrested the next day and slapped with a laundry list of charges — along with another man who lived there, authorities said.
According to sources familiar with the investigation, 36-year-old Grei Mendez owned Divino Nino, the daycare center that on Sept. 15 became the scene of a living nightmare for several Fordham parents.
One-year-old Nicholas Dominici was among three infants who stopped breathing after being exposed to the deadly drug at the daycare on Friday. While a two-year-old boy and an eight-month-old girl were rushed to Montefiore Hospital and saved with Narcan, Dominici — who had reportedly just been enrolled at the Morris Avenue childcare center — tragically lost his life.
“These children did not deserve this,” NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban said at a press conference following the incident.
Mendez and 41-year-old Carlisto Acevedo Brito are charged with murder, depraved indifference, drug possession, manslaughter, possession of a controlled substance, four counts of endangering the welfare of a child and more.
On Sunday, the accused killers were led out of the 52nd Precinct by detectives to face arraignment. While Mendez refused to answer questions for her alleged crimes, Brito desperately tried to evade press cameras.
The daycare, Divino Nino, was inspected earlier this month, but investigators found no violations. One source close to the investigation told amNewYork Metro that police are looking into whether or not the business was being used as a front for a drug operation, though this has yet to be confirmed.
The two-year-old victim was still in critical condition and fighting for his life at Montefiore Hospital as of Saturday night, police said. Another two-year-old child was also treated with Narcan at Bronx Care Hospital on Friday after being found unresponsive at home by his mother, newly minted Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said.
Once the daycare was clear of children, police secured a search warrant and began combing over the facility, during which cops found what sources say was a large amount of drugs and a kilo press used to bundle narcotics.
“This is an item that is commonly used by drug dealers when packaging large quantities of drugs,” Chief Kenny said.
If convicted, Mendez and Acevedo Brito could face decades behind bars.
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