Federal prosecutors hit the operator of a day care in the Bronx and a man living in the apartment it operated out of with narcotics-related charges on Tuesday following the death of a 1-year-old boy who was exposed to fentanyl.
The federal charges were in addition to charges filed against them in state court in the Bronx.
The U.S. attorney’s office accused Grei Mendez, the operator of day care Divino Niño, and Carlisto Acevedo Brito, who lived in the one-bedroom apartment it operated from, of keeping “large quantities of fentanyl, including a kilogram of fentanyl stored on top of children’s playmats.”
Mendez and Acevedo Brito also had items intended for “the distribution of large quantities of narcotics, including so-called ‘kilo presses,’” according to the indictment, which was unsealed on Tuesday.
“As a consequence of the defendants’ drug conspiracy … four children, who were all under 3 years of age, appeared to have experienced the effects of poisoning from exposure to fentanyl,” the indictment reads. “Three of the children were hospitalized with serious injuries. The fourth child, a 1-year-old boy, has died.”
Attempts to reach Mendez’s and Acevedo Brito’s attorneys were not immediately successful.
The child’s death has sent shockwaves around the city as officials have demanded answers about how the death occurred despite the day care passing city and state health inspections.
Police were first alerted to the situation on Friday afternoon after the day care’s operator reported that three children were unresponsive, including the 1-year-old who later died. A 2-year-old boy picked up from the center earlier in the day was taken to a separate hospital after his mother said he was lethargic and unresponsive.
Mendez and Acevedo Brito were first arrested on Saturday and arraigned on state charges on Sunday. Both pleaded not guilty to a litany of charges including “depraved indifference” murder.
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