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Bronx Day Care Operators Convicted of Murder in Toddler’s Fentanyl Death

The verdict caps a lengthy state trial focused on evidence that the day care doubled as a fentanyl packaging site.

Overview

  • Jurors in Bronx Supreme Court found Grei Mendez and Felix Herrera-Garcia guilty of second-degree murder after nearly three months of testimony and several days of deliberations.
  • Mendez was also convicted of first-degree assault tied to the poisoning of other children at the facility.
  • Prosecutors presented evidence that fentanyl was hidden beneath a trapdoor under play mats where children napped and that drug packaging equipment was kept in the apartment.
  • Four children were sickened on Sept. 15, 2023, and 22-month-old Nicholas Dominici died, while a 2-year-old was revived with naloxone, authorities said.
  • Both defendants previously received 45-year federal sentences for narcotics offenses resulting in death, and they are due back in state court Dec. 8 to set a sentencing date that could carry up to life in prison.