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Police searching day care for hidden drugs after tip about trap door: Sources

2024-12-27 13:14:33 Invest

Police on Thursday returned to the New York City day care where a 1-year-old boy died following exposure to fentanyl to search for potentially hidden drugs, sources told ABC News.

Nicholas Dominici, 1, died on Friday and three other children, ranging in age from 8 months to 2 years, were hospitalized and treated with Narcan and are now recovering, police said. An analysis of urine from one of the victims confirmed the presence of fentanyl, officials said.

Police at the scene on Sept. 15, 2023, where at least one child died as a result of coming into contact with a poisonous substance at a day care center in the Bronx section of New York.New York Daily News via Getty Images
Police and federal drug agents returned Thursday to the Bronx daycare where a one year died and three other children had to be revived with naloxone following exposure to fentanyl to search for hidden drugs.WABC

MORE: Day care operator charged in baby's fentanyl death allegedly deleted more than 20K text messages

Authorities' searches on Wednesday night and Thursday followed a tip they received about a trap door in the floor of the Bronx day care, law enforcement sources familiar with the case told ABC News.

Investigators had already found a kilo of fentanyl stored on kids' play mats, along with a device to press drugs into bricks for sale, according to court records.

A kilo press, part of the evidence from the Bronx day care where a kilogram of fentanyl was stored on top of children’s play mats used for napping, where the child died and three other children were overcome on Sept. 15, 2023, in New York.Courtesy DEA and the US Attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York
Evidence from the Bronx day care where a kilogram of fentanyl was stored on top of play mats used for napping, where the child died and three other children were overcome on Sept. 15, 2023, in New York.Courtesy DEA and the US Attorney's office for the Southern District of New York

Grei Mendez, the operator of the day care, and her tenant, Carlisto Acevedo Brito, are in federal custody on charges of narcotics possession with intent to distribute resulting in death and conspiracy to distribute narcotics resulting in death. They've been held without bail.

Mendez and Brito were initially arrested on state charges including murder. The state case has been continued to Oct. 5.

Grei Mendez, a suspect in the day care death of Nicholas Dominici, was taken from the NYPD 52nd Precinct in the Bronx, New York, Sept. 17, 2023.New York Daily News via Getty Images
Carlisto Acevedo-Brito, a suspect in the day care death of 1-year-old Nicholas Dominici, was taken from the NYPD 52nd Precinct in the Bronx on Sept. 17, 2023.Theodore Parisienne for NY Daily News via Getty Images

Mendez’s attorney said she was unaware drugs were being stored in her day care by Brito, her husband's cousin, to whom she was renting a room for $200 a week.

A search is ongoing for Mendez’s husband, who, according to court records, was seen on video fleeing the day care out of a back alley carrying two trash bags.

MORE: Fentanyl, guns found at another New York City home with child after death at day care

The day care was licensed on May 16 by the state’s Office of Children and Family Services, according to public records. It's listed as having a capacity for eight children from 6 weeks old to 12 years old.

City health inspectors conducted a surprise inspection of the facility on Sept. 6 and did not find any violations, according to City Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan.

"I'm very sorry, but one of the things that my child care inspectors are not trained to do is look for fentanyl. But maybe they need to," Vasan said at a news conference Monday.

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