Officials: Baby killed, 3 kids ‘poisoned’ by fentanyl at day care
A two-pound brick of fentanyl was found at a Bronx day-care center after a 1-yearold boy died of drug poisoning and three other children were hospitalized, officials said Tuesday.
The children were “poisoned by fentanyl” at the daycare center in a tragedy that “shocked the conscience of the city,” Damian Williams, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said during a news conference.
Grei Mendez, 36, who ran Divino Niño day-care center from an apartment, and Carlisto Acevedo Brito, a 41-year-old man who lived in the apartment, were arrested Saturday after the boy’s death. They face federal charges that carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Both claimed to be unaware of the drugs found at the day care, according to the federal complaint.
Mendez called 911 at about 2:40 p.m. Friday, reporting that three kids — ranging from 8 months to 2 years old — needed medical attention.
All three were taken to a hospital, where the 1-year-old was pronounced dead. The two other children received doses of Narcan, the nasal spray that reverses opioid overdoses, and required hospitalization, the federal complaint stated. Another child who attended the day care and was picked up earlier in the day by parents was also taken to a hospital. The child received Narcan and required hospitalization, as well, the complaint stated.
Mendez and co-conspirators allegedly attempted to cover up what happened — Williams said a co-conspirator at the day care fled the scene “carrying two full shopping bags.”
Law enforcement discovered large quantities of fentanyl at the day care, as well as machinery used to press and package narcotics. “In particular, they found a brick of fentanyl, about 1 kilogram in weight, right on top of children’s play mats in the day care’s closet,” Williams said during the news conference Tuesday.
Mendez, Acevedo Brito and the unnamed co-conspirators “were running a drug operation from a day-care center,” Williams said. “This is a tragedy, and my heart breaks for the children and their families. . . . We’re going to keep fighting for justice.”
A federal investigation is ongoing, and authorities are pursuing co-conspirators, as well.