What to Know
- The woman who operated a Bronx day care center where a 1-year-old child died of an opioid overdose deleted more than 21,000 encrypted messages to her husband after infant's death, according to court documents
- Grei Mendez and Carlisto Acevedo Brito, who rented a room inside the Kingsbridge apartment where the day care was operated, were hit with two federal charges on Tuesday, a criminal complaint read.
- The charges come after authorities discovered four young children – ranging in age from 8 months to 2 years old – showing signs of suspected opioid overdose after spending time at the Bronx day care center, Divino Niño.
The woman who operated a Bronx day care center where a 1-year-old child died of an opioid overdose deleted more than 21,000 encrypted messages to her husband after infant's death, according to court documents.
Grei Mendez and Carlisto Acevedo Brito, who rented a room inside the Kingsbridge apartment where the day care was operated, were hit with two federal charges on Tuesday, prosecutors said. Both Mendez, 33, and Brito, 41, face the additional charges of possession with intent to distribute narcotics resulting in death and conspiracy to distribute narcotics resulting in death.
The new charges come as more details regarding what happened in the moments after the infant, Nicholas Dominici, was found unresponsive. The criminal complaint released Tuesday stated that Mendez had exchanged about 21,500 messages with a co-conspirator, who law enforcement has identified as her husband, between Friday and March 30, 2021.
All of those messages had been deleted in the time after the infant's death, according to the federal criminal complaint. As she was being questioned by police, law enforcement found that Mendez told her husband they were asking questions about him and where he was. He instructed her to tell them he was working, court documents state, and she told him to find a lawyer.
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The approximately one kilogram of fentanyl, which was recovered inside a taped package that contained several thousand dollars worth of the deadly drug, was found in a closet next to stacked mats that children napped on, law enforcement said. Mendez has maintained she had no knowledge of the presence of the highly-potent opioid, which sickened three other young children, including an 8-month-old girl who tested positive for fentanyl use.
Along with the fentanyl, police said they also found two press devices used to combine the drug with other narcotics. Both the drugs and one of the devices were inside the hallway closet connected to an apartment Brito was said to be staying in. A second press was located inside the adjoining room occupied by Brito, according to a criminal complaint.
Mendez told police that she thoroughly cleaned the day care, Divino Niño, six days a week and that the kilo press found at the scene could have been left there by a prior tenant, the court documents state. She also said there had been no other visitors to the day care on Friday — even though her husband was seen on surveillance footage carrying bags out of the day care just minutes before first responders arrived, as well as earlier in the day, the federal complaint stated.
Prosecutors said that Mendez made three phone calls before dialing 911, including one to another day care employee and two to her husband, as they allegedly "tried to cover up" what happened. Then after police were called, Mendez allegedly made several more phone calls to her husband. Her husband came to the apartment, stayed for about two minutes, then left out a back alleyway carrying two full shopping bags, court documents state — all while the children were unresponsive and waiting on medical care.
U.S. Attorney for the South District of New York Damian Williams called the alleged actions by Mendez and Brito were "unconscionable" and "inexcusable."
"Parents entrusted Grei Mendez with the care of their children. As alleged, instead of diligently safeguarding the well-being of those children, she and her co-conspirators put them directly in harm’s way, running a narcotics operation and storing deadly fentanyl out of the very space in which the children ate, slept, and played," said Williams. "The disregard shown by Mendez and her co-conspirators for the lives of the children under her care is simply staggering."
An examination of messages found on Brito's phone, also from the same encrypted messaging service, tied him to alleged narcotics trafficking as well, according to the criminal complaint. Brito denied having any knowledge of the drugs and the kilo press.
If found guilty on the federal charges, both Mendez and Brito could face life in prison, and a minimum sentence of 20 years behind bars.
"They were running a drug operation from a day care center — a place where children should be kept safe, not surrounded by a drug that can kill them in an instant," said Williams. "This is a tragedy, my heart breaks for the children and their families...I also have a message for anyone out there who is selling fentanyl: Stop pushing this poison. It kills, it ruin lives, and it will ruin yours too when we catch you."
The federal charges come in addition to state murder charges facing Mendez and Brito, who was identified by Mendez as her husband's cousin. Mendez pleaded not guilty on Sunday to the charges; Brito had been awaiting arraignment on the same charges.
An attorney for Mendez, Andres Aranda, said his client lived above the Morris Avenue day care center and rented out a room to Brito for $200 per month.
New York allows home-based day care centers for small numbers of children, as long as they are licensed and inspected.
“Apparently when the day care was not open, people came in and out of the apartment,” Aranda said.
Friday was a “normal day” inside the day care center, with Mendez bringing the children upstairs, reading and cooking for them, then putting them to sleep, he said. But when Dominici didn't wake up from his nap, she became terrified, calling 911 and shouting for neighbors, her lawyer said.
Mendez, who also works as a home health aide, was sent to Rikers Island without bail following an arraignment Sunday night. A message left with Brito's attorney wasn't immediately returned.
The husband identified as a co-conspirator in the criminal complaint has not yet been charged with any crimes, but Williams said "we're not done" when asked why no charges had yet been filed.
The day care facility opened in Jan. 2023. It passed both of its inspections, authorities said, including a surprise visit made by inspectors earlier this month.
When emergency personnel arrived at the apartment on Friday afternoon, they discovered Dominici, as well an 8-month-old girl and a 2-year-old boy, showing signs of opioid intoxication. Medics administered Narcan, an overdose-reversing drug, to all three, helping to counter the symptoms of the 8-month-old and 2-year-old.
Dominici was pronounced dead at a hospital in the Bronx later that day.
A fourth child who had attended the day care was taken to a hospital by her mother after showing signs of opioid exposure, including shortness of breath and unresponsiveness. Police said fentanyl “residue” poisoned the children.
“We’re not going to allow this incident to take place and ignore this as just another day, another tragedy in the city,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams said at a news conference Monday. “It’s not acceptable.”
He vented frustration at adults who would bring fentanyl into any place with children, noting that even ingesting a tiny amount of pure fentanyl could kill an adult.
“This is just total madness,” he said.
It remains unclear how the children may have been exposed to the drugs. Dominici’s cause and manner of death are pending further study, according to the city’s medical examiner’s office.
"There’s no more devastating news or tragedy than a loss of a child. Every New Yorker should be outraged by this senseless tragedy," said DEA Special Agent-in-Charge Frank Tarentino.
Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is up to 50 times stronger than heroin, has become a primary driver of soaring overdose deaths both nationally and in New York City. Illegally-made fentanyl is often added to other drugs, including heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine, to increase its potency.
Unintentional drug overdoses among children are also on the rise, with opioids the most common substance contributing to fatal poisoning of kids.
In the overwhelming majority of cases, children were found to have orally ingested the substance, rather than touching or inhaling it in the air, according to a 2019 study published in the Journal of Pediatrics.
