A package containing fentanyl worth several thousand dollars was found at a New York City day care center where a 1-year-old boy died last week from apparent opioid exposure, police and city officials said.
The daycare owner, however, He maintained he had no knowledge of the presence of the powerful drugthat left three other minors sick, including an 8-month-old girl who tested positive for fentanyl.
Authorities They found drug residue under a mattress where children were napping, New York Police Department Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said at a news conference.
Daycare owner pleads innocent
Grei Méndez, who operated the Divino Niño daycare out of a Bronx apartment, He pleaded not guilty Sunday to murder charges. for the death of Nicolas Dominici. A 41-year-old man who rented a room inside the apartment, Carlisto Acevedo Brito, 41, expects to be charged with the same charges.
The police reported that recovered approximately one kilogram of fentanyl, as well as a press used to combine the drug with other narcotics, inside a closet located in a hallway connected to the apartment. Officers discovered a second press inside the room Brito occupied, according to a criminal complaint.
“We will not allow such an incident to happen. and ignore it as if it were simply the tragedy of the day in the city,” said New York Mayor Eric Adams.
Adams expressed frustration with adults who They take fentanyl wherever there are childrenbecause ingesting even a small amount of the narcotic in its pure form could kill an adult.
“It’s absolute madness”, did he declare.
They target Méndez’s tenant
Andrés Aranda, Méndez’s lawyer, said that Your client lived above the daycare and she rented a room from Brito, her husband’s cousin, for about $200 a month.
New York allows residential day care for a small number of children, provided they have with permission and inspections are carried out.
“Apparently, when the nursery was closedthere were people coming in and out of the apartment,” Aranda said.
Friday was a normal day at the daycare, during which Méndez would take the children upstairs, read to them, cook for them and send them to sleep, the lawyer said. But since Dominici didn’t wake up from his nap, She was scared and called the emergency number 911. and began yelling at his neighbors, Aranda said.
Méndez, 36, who also works as a health assistant, she was sent to Rikers Island without bail after an appearance Sunday evening. A message left with Brito’s attorney was not immediately returned.
With information from AP
Source: El Heraldo De Mexico
I’m Joel Redick, a journalist currently working for an Run Down Bulletin. I specialize in writing articles on world news, and my work has been featured on multiple platforms, where I write about current affairs and global issues.
