Terrifying Twist in Bronx Daycare Tragedy: Secret Fentanyl Drug Den Uncovered.
In a shocking turn of events, crime scene investigators have discovered a trap door filled with narcotics at a Bronx day care center where a 1-year-old child tragically lost his life due to fentanyl exposure. Three other children were severely injured in the incident.
The investigators, who returned to the day care center on Thursday, executed a search warrant for hidden drugs. The trap door, located in the play area of the apartment, contained a large quantity of fentanyl, other narcotics, and drug paraphernalia.
Previously, authorities had found a kilo of fentanyl stored on playmats at the day care center, along with a device used to press drugs into bricks for sale, according to court records.
The day care owner, Grei Mendez, 36, and her tenant Carlisto Acevedo Brito, 41, are currently facing charges of narcotics possession with intent to distribute resulting in death and conspiracy to distribute narcotics resulting in death in connection with the death of Nicholas Dominici. Both defendants did not appear at the recent court hearing, but their lawyers represented them. The case has been continued to October 5.
A grand jury in the Bronx returned an indictment charging Mendez and Brito in connection with the death of the 1-year-old and the poisonings of three other children. The charges remain sealed until the two appear for arraignment at a later date.
Mendez and Brito remain in federal custody after they were ordered held without bail in connection with federal drug trafficking charges. A search for Mendici’s husband, who was seen on video fleeing the daycare out a back alley, is ongoing.
The tragic incident unfolded last Friday afternoon when first responders were summoned to the Divino Nino Daycare for reports of cardiac arrest. Dominici died after police say he was exposed to fentanyl that was in the day care.
Acevedo Brito and Mendez face 28 charges including murder, manslaughter, and assault. Officials allege that the defendants tried to cover up the overdoses of the babies. Prosecutors claim Mendez deleted 20,000 text messages from her phone before she was arrested, but they managed to recover them.
“The defendants’ alleged conduct that led to those poisonings is unconscionable, it’s inexcusable, and it’s the reason that they are now in federal custody,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams.
