Owner of a daycare where a toddler fatally ingested fentanyl pleads guilty to federal charges

NEW YORK (AP) — A woman who owned a daycare in New York City where a toddler died after taking fentanyl pleaded guilty Tuesday to federal drug charges.

More than a year after the September 2023 death of 22-month-old Nicholas Dominici, Grei Mendez pleaded guilty in Manhattan to charges including conspiracy to distribute narcotics causing death.

Earlier this month, her husband, Felix Herrera-Garcia, was convicted to 45 years in prison after pleading guilty to drug abuse and causing bodily harm.

Mendez, 37, cried briefly as she explained that she had arranged with her husband and another person to possess and distribute drugs, and in September 2023, she helped the couple package and store the narcotics in the Bronx apartment where she managed the Divino Niño daycare center.

“This will haunt me as long as I live,” said Mendez, who has four children of his own.

Mendez said her husband encouraged her to open the daycare, and she believed he did it to help her. But once the doors opened, she realized it was actually a “perfect way to hide his drug dealing,” she said.

Mendez will be sentenced on March 3. She faces a mandatory minimum of 20 years in prison and the possibility of life behind bars.

Three other children exposed to the fentanyl at daycare survived after medics administered the overdose-reversing drug Narcan.

Police executing a search warrant at the Bronx apartment found a large quantity of fentanyl and other drug paraphernalia hidden under a hatch in the children’s playground. Photos shared by the police at the time showed bags full of powder hidden by plywood and tile floors.

Researchers also found one kilograms of fentanyl stored on top of play mats used by children and multiple devices to mix the powder with other narcotics and press it into bricks.

Prosecutors told Mendez as much took steps to cover up the drug operation after realizing that some children weren’t waking up from their naps.

They say she called her husband before alerting first responders, who was later seen on surveillance footage entering the building and leaving through an alley with several shopping bags.

In a statement, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams called Mendez’s behavior “reprehensible.”

“Grei Mendez has just admitted that she conspired to store and distribute large quantities of dangerously toxic fentanyl at a child care center in the Bronx, a place where parents expected their children to be protected and safe,” he said. “From the beginning, this case has demonstrated the senseless collateral damage caused by the fentanyl epidemic and should remind us all that the demand for illegal narcotics so often endangers innocent bystanders as drug traffickers ruthlessly pursue profit.”

Mendez’s attorneys did not respond to an email seeking comment Tuesday. They have previously said she had no knowledge of the drug operation, while suggesting her husband was responsible for the drugs.

Mendez has also been charged in state court with murder, manslaughter and assault. She has pleaded not guilty.