After a 1-year-old boy died and three other children were hospitalized last week after being exposed to fentanyl, police officers stated that they found a trap floor with drugs at the daycare center where the tragedy took place.
As part of an ongoing overdose fatality investigation in a Bronx daycare center on 9/15/23, a search warrant was conducted by @NYPDDetectives. A large quantity of Fentanyl, other narcotics, & drug paraphernalia was recovered in a trap floor in the play area at the daycare center. https://t.co/VycTB9hzpx pic.twitter.com/ZwaeukUHqS
Investigators had already discovered a kilo of fentanyl that was stored on play mats at the daycare center and a device that pressed drugs into bricks for sale, according to court records.
The dead child, Nicholas Dominici, died on Friday while the three other children who were at Divino Niño, ranging in age from 8 months to 2 years, were taken to the hospital. The children were treated with Narcan and are recovering. Fentanyl was found in the urine of one of the victims, officials confirmed.
Two people are being held on federal charges of narcotics possession with intent to distribute resulting in death and conspiracy to distribute narcotics resulting in death. Grei Mendez, the operator of the daycare, and Carlisto Acevedo Brito, a tenant of the building are currently being held without bail.
They were both initially arrested and charged on state charges including murder. Their next scheduled court date will be on Oct. 5. Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark said they were indicted by a grand jury.
Mendez’s attorney claims that she was unaware drugs were being stored at the building by her husband’s cousin, Brito. Police are looking for her husband who, based on court records, was seen on video fleeing the building out of a back alley carrying two trash bags.
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Source: Black Enterprise
