Owner of NYC day care where toddler died from fentanyl pleads guilty to federal charges

The owner of a New York day care where a 1-year-old died from fentanyl poisoning and three other children were hospitalized pleaded guilty Tuesday to federal charges, officials said.

Grei Mendez entered the guilty plea in Manhattan to the charges, including conspiracy to distribute narcotics resulting in death, possession with intent to distribute narcotics resulting in death, and possession with intent to distribute narcotics resulting in serious bodily injury, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. She faces a minimum of 20 years in prison and the potential of life in prison.

Mendez's plea comes more than a year after four children were hospitalized for suspected fentanyl poisoning at the Divino Ni?o daycare center in the Bronx. One-year-old Nicholas Dominici died at a hospital while three other children under the age of 3 recovered after being administered the overdose-reversing drug Narcan.

Prosecutors accused Mendez along with her husband, Felix Herrera Garcia, and a co-conspirator of running a fentanyl operation inside the day care. Earlier this month, Herrera Garcia was sentenced to 45 years in prison after pleading guilty to drug charges.

Renny "El Gallo" Parra Paredes was charged as a co-conspirator and pleaded guilty in late May to conspiring to distribute narcotics and stipulated that his conduct caused death and serious bodily injury. Herrera Garcia's cousin, Carlisto Acevedo Brito, was also charged in connection to the case.

"Grei Mendez has just admitted she conspired to maintain and distribute large quantities of dangerously toxic fentanyl in a Bronx Daycare center, a place where parents expected their children would be protected and safe," U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement Tuesday. "From the beginning, this case has shown the senseless collateral damage caused by the fentanyl epidemic, and should remind us all that the demand for illegal narcotics so often puts innocent bystanders at risk while drug traffickers ruthlessly pursue profits."

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What happened at the Bronx day care?

On Sept. 15, 2023, New York Police Department officers responded to a report of unconscious children at the day care center. Three children — an 8-month-old girl and two boys, 1 and 2 — were found unresponsive.

All three children were administered Narcan after first responders determined they were exhibiting signs of a drug overdose. Two of the children recovered, but Dominici died at a hospital.

Another 2-year-old boy, who had been sent home before police arrived, survived after his mother noticed he was "lethargic and unresponsive" and checked him into a hospital, authorities said at the time.

Before the incident, the day care center had passed three routine checks by the Department of Health, including an annual unannounced search that did not find any violations. Police also said they had received no complaints from the community related to "drug transactions" at the center.

But further investigation revealed that more than eleven kilograms of fentanyl and heroin had been stored in secret compartments located under the floors of the center, where "children played, ate, and slept on a daily basis," according to prosecutors.

Police said in court filings that a kilogram of fentanyl was also found on top of play mats in a closet and drug paraphernalia was found hidden inside the floor, including glassine envelopes with a "Red Dawn" stamp. The same stamp was found in the apartment where Parra Paredes was living, along with other drug supplies, according to court documents.

Day care owner accused of attempting to cover up drug operation

Prosecutors said the drug operation had been going on since about Oct. 2022. From around July 2023 to Sept. 2023, the four suspects conspired to distribute fentanyl at the day care center — which Mendez ran out of a Bronx apartment, according to court documents.

Prosecutors said in court filings that Mendez and Brito, who had been renting a bedroom inside the center, attempted to cover up the drug operation as the children suffered from the effects of the fentanyl exposure. Mendez had called Herrera Garcia and Parra Paredes before she called 911 when she discovered the children had been exposed, according to a criminal complaint.

Minutes before emergency personnel arrived at the center, prosecutors said surveillance footage showed Herrera Garcia smuggling shopping bags out of a back alley. Prosecutors also accused Mendez of deleting about 21,526 messages between her and Herrera Garcia from an encrypted messaging application.

Authorities searched for Herrera Garcia for weeks before he was arrested on a bus in Sinaloa by Mexican authorities and Drug Enforcement Administration agents, according to news reports at the time.

Incident sparked public outcry

The incident prompted increased scrutiny of New York City day care centers and a backlog of background checks for child care providers. Local health officials at the time said employees at the Bronx day care center had passed background checks.

At an oversight hearing last year, members of the New York City Council questioned how those employees could have passed a background check and whether the backlog in that approval process had anything to do with it. Reports revealed that the city had a backlog of 140 background checks of day care providers and employees.

Following the incident, New York City officials vowed to protect children after other day care facility incidents sparked public outcry. Weeks after the Bronx day care incident, three people were arrested after "ghost guns" and a 3D printer were recovered from an unlocked room at a state-licensed day care facility.

"This is a heartbreaking scenario of thinking that you're dropping your child off to a place of safe haven just to find out that it was a dangerous environment," Mayor Eric Adams said at the news conference on Sept. 27, 2023. "We're going to work united. We are clear that we must protect children in this city."

Contributing: Jeanine Santucci and Zachary Schermele, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Bronx day care death: Owner pleads guilty to federal charges