Woman operator of Bronx daycare where 1-year-old Nicholas Dominici died of fentanyl poisoning pleads guilty

From SÍLE MOLONEY

Gray Mendez, 37, the operator of El Divino Niño Children’s Center in Kingsbridge Heights, where 1-year-old Nicholas Feliz Dominici died of fentanyl poisoning on Sept. 15, 2023, pleaded guilty to federal charges brought against her following the incident, prosecutors announced Tuesday, 29 October

“Gray Mendes has just pleaded guilty to conspiring to possess and distribute large quantities of dangerously toxic fentanyl at a Bronx daycare where parents hoped their children would be protected and safe,” said Damian Williams, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. York.

He continued: “Mendez’s good behavior led to the needless and tragic death of a child and the poisoning of three others. 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 endangers innocent bystanders while drug traffickers ruthlessly pursue profits. This office will continue to protect New Yorkers from the serious threat that fentanyl poses.”

as reportedMendez man, Felix Herrera Garcia 36, was recently sentenced to 45 years in prison for trafficking fentanyl from a shuttered daycare located at 2707 Morris Ave., which resulted in the death of Nicholas and the poisoning of three other infants, after pleading guilty earlier this year.

In addition to Herrera Garcia and Mendes, Rennie Antonio Parra Paredes39 and Carlisto Acevedo BritoHerrera Garica’s 42-year-old cousin was also arrested in connection with the incident and faces various State and federal accusationsome of which include murder and drug trafficking. Parra Paredes too admitted his guilt to federal charges and is awaiting sentencing in federal court.

According to the investigation, on 09/15/2023 at 2:43 p.m. in an apartment at 2707 Morris Avenue, a licensed daycare center where Acevedo Britolived in the bedroom, four children were poisoned by exposure to fentanyl, resulting in the death of Nicholas and acute opioid intoxication that required the hospitalization of an 8-month-old girl, her 2-year-old brother, and another 2-year-old boy. Paramedics administered Narcan to treat the brother and sister’s symptoms, but Nicholas died. Another boy was treated at the hospital and also survived.

as reporteda kilogram of fentanyl was found in a closet in the daycare, and six kilograms of fentanyl, heroin and other controlled substances were found under a hatch on the floor, under a soft rug where the children were napping. Weight presses and other narcotic drugs were found in the apartment. All four defendants were remanded in custody. City sanitation officials had earlier confirmed the daycare has undergone pre-opening inspections, including at least one unannounced on-site inspection.

This was reported by one source Norwood News Mendez’s young children were not cared for in the daycare she ran. as reportedprosecutors said that just before calling 911, Mendes called her husband twice.

They said the first phone call went unanswered and the second phone call lasted just over 10 seconds. Minutes before emergency services arrived, surveillance video showed her empty-handed husband walking quickly from a nearby building to a daycare, they said.

When Mendes appeared in Bronx Criminal Court on Tuesday, April 9, where she faced various state charges related to the accidental poisoning of Nicholas, in addition to separate federal charges, her defense attorney said she was “not a monster.”

Talking to Norwood News after the day’s trial that day, her defense attorney, Javier Solano, said for his client: “She’s not some kind of monster; she is not This is a person who literally cared about these (people?/unintelligible). She really wanted to do well as a kindergarten worker. She is a loving mother; every day her heart breaks. If she could probably give her life for those kids, she would do it in a second.” Read our previous story for more comments from her attorney at the time here.

as reportedMendez faced various charges federal felonies involving the distribution of fentanyl, including in a daycare center, allegedly between or about July 2023 and at least in or about September 2023 with her man, Herrera Garciaand alleged accomplices, Acevedo Brito and Parra Paredesa/k/a “El Gallo”. Acevedo Brito is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

as reportedIn December 2023, at the behest of Nicholas’ grieving parents, City Councilwoman Pierina Sanchez (CD 14) and State Senator Gustavo Rivera (SD 33) introduced new laws through local city and state lawmakers to protect the children. in kindergartens from exposure to opioids. Learn more about those laws that have not yet all been adopted, here.

On a memory service Nicholas, which took place in October 2023, the father of the little boy, Otoniel Feliz Samboy, said that he feels the love and support of his family and every person and is grateful for it. Speaking in Spanish, he added: “I know that my son’s death will not be in vain, not only because the guilty will pay, but because his death will change a lot not only in this city, but also in this country and all over the world”.

The Way of Nicolas Othoniel Feliz Dominici was inaugurated on the first anniversary of Nicolas’ death on September 15. Read this story here.

as reportedOn October 16, a Bronx man was sentenced in a separate case to 13 years in prison for operating a separate drug facility in the Bronx’s Morris Heights neighborhood that led to the death of another one-year-old infant from fentanyl poisoning in December 2018.

The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) provides training and regularly updates information on how to obtain and administer naloxone (Narcan). Click here for more information.