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Bronx Daycare Operators Convicted of Murder in Toddler’s Fentanyl Death

The verdict follows a months-long state trial, adding potential life sentences on top of their 45-year federal terms.

Overview

  • A Bronx jury found Grei Mendez and her husband, Felix Herrera-Garcia, guilty of second-degree murder after four days of deliberations.
  • Mendez was also convicted of first-degree assault following a trial that stretched roughly two to three months.
  • Prosecutors said the pair ran a fentanyl packaging operation inside the Divino Niño Daycare and hid drugs under a trapdoor where children napped.
  • The Sept. 15, 2023 exposure killed 22-month-old Nicholas Dominici and sickened three other children, one of whom was revived with Narcan.
  • Both defendants had already received 45-year federal sentences for narcotics offenses resulting in death, and in the state case they face up to life in prison with a Dec. 8 court date to set sentencing.