More Charges After Child Is Fatally Exposed to Fentanyl

UPDATE Sep 20, 2023 3:00 AM CDT

The two people previously hit with state charges over the death of a 1-year-old boy who was exposed to fentanyl at a New York City home daycare are now also facing federal charges. A complaint filed in federal court Monday charges Grei Mendez, 36, and Carlisto Acevedo Brito, 41, with conspiracy to distribute narcotics resulting in death and possession with intent to distribute narcotics resulting in death, CNN reports. The charges carry a possibility of life behind bars. The complaint reveals Mendez allegedly called her husband (twice) and another daycare employee before calling 911 for help, and that she and her husband allegedly removed evidence before police searched the apartment. Authorities say Mendez's husband fled, and they are searching for him. Brito is his cousin and a tenant of the apartment. All are accused of distributing fentanyl from the apartment.

Sep 18, 2023 10:50 AM CDT

It's a fentanyl death with the most innocent of victims: Police in New York City say a 1-year-old boy died after being exposed to the opioid at his day care, reports NBC News. Three other young children were hospitalized but are recovering. Police have arrested the woman who operated the day care out of her Bronx apartment, 36-year-old Grei Mendez, and a man who rented a room in the apartment, 41-year-old Carlisto Acevedo Brito. Both face murder charges and a slew of other charges, including child endangerment. Police found a kilo of fentanyl in an apartment closet, as well as kilo presses used for processing large amounts of drugs, reports the New York Times.

The boy who died was identified as Nicholas Feliz Dominici. Police found him unresponsive in the apartment on Friday afternoon after responding to an emergency call from Mendez. Investigators suspect the children inhaled the drug when it was being cut up in the apartment, reports the New York Post. A lawyer for Mendez says his client knew nothing about the drugs being there. "Why would someone who knows they have fentanyl in their apartment call the police?" he said in an interview with the Times. Nicholas was in his first week at the day care. "I have to thank God for the time we had with him," says his mother, 34-year-old Zoila Dominici. (More fentanyl stories.)