Bronx day care owner pleads guilty after police say 1-year-old died from fentanyl exposure in 2023

The owner of a day care center where a 1-year-old baby died last year, pleaded guilty on Tuesday.

Tim Harfmann

Oct 29, 2024, 9:25 PM

Updated 27 days ago

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Authorities said Grei Mendez admitted to conspiring to maintaining and distributing toxic fentanyl inside the child care center. 
Prosecutors told News 12 that Mendez pleaded guilty to three counts related to drug possession and distribution. All three counts carry a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in prison and a maximum of life.  
In September 2023, police raided the Davino Nino day care center in Kingsbridge after they said multiple young children were found unconscious. 
Police said three children survived and one did not.  
One-year-old Nicholas Feliz Dominici died after being exposed to fentanyl. 
Officials said they discovered 1 kilo of fentanyl and drug packaging equipment, with traces of opioids on play mats where children under the age of two played and slept.  
The Southern District of New York U.S. Attorneys Office called Mendez's conduct “reprehensible” and said that “this case shows the senseless collateral damage caused by the fentanyl epidemic.” 
Mendez’s guilty plea comes almost two weeks after her husband, Felix Herrera Garcia, was sentenced to 45 years in federal prison for drug trafficking out of the daycare.