Daycare owner where child fatally ingested fentanyl pleads guilty to federal charges

NEW YORK (AP) — A woman who owned a daycare center in New York City, where a the child died after taking fentanyl pleaded guilty Tuesday to federal drug charges.

More than a year after the September 2023 death of 22-month-old Nicholas Dominici, Gray Mendes pleaded guilty in Manhattan to charges including conspiracy to distribute drugs resulting in death.

Earlier this month, her husband Felix Herrera-Garcia was convicted to 45 years in prison after pleading guilty to drug and assault charges.

Mendez, 37, cried briefly as she explained that she arranged with her husband and another person to store and distribute the drugs, then in September 2023 helped the couple unpack and store the drugs in the Bronx apartment where she ran Divino Niño Daycare.

“It’s going to haunt me for the rest of my life,” said Mendez, who has four children of her own.

Mendez said her husband encouraged her to open the daycare, and she believed he was doing it to help her. But she said as soon as the door opened, she realized it was actually “the perfect way to hide my drug business.”

Mendes is scheduled to be sentenced on March 3. She faces a mandatory minimum sentence of up to 20 years with the possibility of life in prison.

Three other children exposed to fentanyl in kindergarten survived after paramedics administered the overdose-reversing drug Narcan.

Police raiding a Bronx apartment found a large amount of fentanyl and other drug paraphernalia hidden under a hatch in a children’s play area. Photos shared the police at the time showed bags full of powder hidden by plywood and tile floors.

The investigators also discovered a kilograms of fentanyl stored on game mats used by children, as well as several devices for mixing the powder with other drugs and pressing it into bricks.

Prosecutors also made a statement about Mendez took measures to cover up the drug operation realizing that some children do not wake up from sleep.

They say she called her husband before alerting first responders, who were later seen on surveillance footage entering the building and exiting across the street with several shopping bags.

In a statement, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams called Mendez’s behavior “reprehensible.”

“Gray Mendez just pleaded guilty to conspiring to store and distribute large quantities of dangerously toxic fentanyl at a Bronx daycare where parents hoped their children would be protected and safe,” he said. “From the start, this case has shown the senseless collateral damage caused by the fentanyl epidemic and should remind us all that the demand for illegal drugs so often puts innocent bystanders at risk while drug traffickers ruthlessly pursue profits.”

Mendez’s attorneys did not respond to an email seeking comment Tuesday. They previously said she was unaware of the drug operation, suggesting her husband was responsible for the drugs.

Mendez was also charged in state court with murder, involuntary manslaughter and assault. She pleaded not guilty.