Police are searching for ‘key player’ in drug trafficking at New York daycare center where boy died from apparent fentanyl exposure: sources
The NYPD is on the hunt for a man believed to be “the key player” in the undercover drug trafficking operation at a Bronx daycare center where a 1-year-old boy died as a result of suspected fentanyl exposure, police sources said on Monday with.
The suspect – the husband of Grei Mendez De Ventura, 36, the owner of Divino Niño Daycare – may have played a key role in the illegal operations uncovered after the death of little Nicholas Feliz Dominici on Friday, the sources said.
He is also the cousin of alleged colleague Caristo Acevedo Brito, 41, who was arrested on Sunday along with De Ventura.
Brito lived in the basement that also housed the daycare center where three other children were also exposed to the deadly drug, the sources said.
Those children – two 2-year-old boys and the 8-month-old sister of one of them – were hospitalized, with one in critical condition, according to police.
De Ventura and Brito were charged with murder, manslaughter, assault, drug possession and child endangerment in connection with the disturbing case.
Both were held without bail during their arraignment Sunday night.
Police responded to a 911 call from the daycare on Morris Avenue near East 196th Street in Kingsbridge just after 3:30 p.m. Friday and found three of the children unresponsive – allegedly after being exposed to fentanyl, according to police.
At least some of the children were given the opioid overdose drug Narcan to save them.
Nicholas was taken to Montefiore Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
His grieving mother told CBS New York in Spanish that her son, who would turn two in November, was just getting used to the daycare he attended just a week before his tragic death, which is located in the Daycare center is located in the family home within walking distance.
“We spoke to those responsible,” she said. “You recommended this place and seemed to follow all the rules. We were on the waiting list for our son to qualify.”
The boy, the youngest of five children, was “so intelligent,” his mother said.
“He would repeat anything you would tell him,” she added. “He had so much love. Everyone who knew him appreciated him, all our neighbors.”
Among the other children hospitalized, one of the two-year-old boys was in a critical condition while the condition of the eight-month-old girl was in a stable condition.
The third toddler was taken to BronxCare Health Systems by an acquaintance and was also in stable condition.
Authorities found three “kilogram pressers” used to package large amounts of drugs at the daycare, as well as a kilogram of fentanyl, prosecutors revealed in court documents.
They also discovered a one-kilogram package of a white, powdery substance in a hallway closet that later tested positive for fentanyl, court documents said.
De Ventura is scheduled to return to court on Thursday and Brito on Friday, the Bronx District Attorney’s Office said.
