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Bronx day care at center of 1-year-old’s fatal drug exposure passed city and state inspections
By
Bahar Ostadan
Published Sep 18, 2023
Modified Sep 18, 2023
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Bahar Ostadan
By
Bahar Ostadan
Published Sep 18, 2023
Modified Sep 18, 2023
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A Bronx day care at the center of a fatal incident on Friday passed several city and state health inspections that did not include background checks on everyone living at the home-based center – nor check for fentanyl, city officials said Monday.
Days after a 1-year-old boy died from apparent opioid exposure at Divino Niño Day Care on Morris Avenue, health department officials said checking specifically for fentanyl is not a requirement of city health inspections for home-based day cares.
Nicholas Dominici was one of three children found unresponsive by police on Friday afternoon, along with a 2-year-old boy and an 8-month-old girl. Police later learned another 2-year-old boy, who was picked up earlier by his mother, started showing symptoms of opioid exposure.
The children were given lunch at around 1 p.m. on Friday and then put down for a nap on gym mats. Police said they later found one kilogram of fentanyl underneath one of those mats.
Medical testing on three of the children tested positive for fentanyl, according to newly-appointed NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny. Police are investigating video surveillance footage to try and learn what came in and out of the day care center.
During a search of the day care center Friday night, members of the NYPD’s Emergency Services Unit found a “large taped package” weighing about one kilogram that was filled with white powder in a hallway closet, according to court records. Police said a test of the substance determined that it was fentanyl.
Officers also found two kilo presses, which are used to package large amounts of drugs, in the same hallway closet and another in a back room, according to the complaint.
Grei Mendez, 36, who ran the day care out of her apartment, was charged with murder on Saturday. Carlisto Acevedo Brito, who rented a room in the apartment and who police say is related to Mendez’s husband, was also charged with murder. Police are searching for Mendez’s husband and “another person of interest” in connection with the incident, Kenny said
Prosecutors said no day care employees experienced any symptoms of poisoning or exposure to environmental toxins.
The Divino Niño Day Care is one of thousands of day care centers licensed by the city and state to care for children in people’s homes, according to Mayor Eric Adams. Mendez was approved to open the center in January, passed two inspections — including a surprise inspection on Sept. 6, according to city Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan.
But background checks were not included on Brito and Mendez’s husband, who reportedly also lives in the space. It is incumbent on the owner of the day care to declare all household adults over 18 years old for background checks, according to the city’s health department, and officials said Mendez did not adequately do so. An investigation remains ongoing.
Mendez could have volunteered that the city run background checks on her husband and roommate when she applied for the day care license, according to a city health department spokesperson. But when asked whether the city should require such background checks, the spokesperson was abruptly ushered away from reporters by an Adams staffer.
City health inspectors, who inspect these day care centers on behalf of New York state, are also not required to search these sites specifically for fentanyl.
“[Fentanyl] to date has been out of the purview of these inspectors,” Vasan told reporters on Monday. “The incident that just happened maybe tells us that we need to make it in their purview.”
Adams was resolute about the city’s role in Friday’s tragedy.
“We did everything we’re supposed to do,” he said.
Fentanyl was detected in 80% of the city’s fatalities related to drug use in 2021 – making it the most common drug found in New York City overdose cases in the last five years, according to city records. The Kingsbridge section of the Bronx, where the day care sits on Morris Avenue, recorded one of the highest overdose death rates in the entire city in 2021, according to the city's health department.
Longtime residents there told Gothamist that fentanyl has “ruined” their neighborhood, pushing them to voluntarily carry around Narcan to help reverse overdoses on the street.
“I call it the murder drug,” said Dan Trivino, 70. “They’re all bad, but this one is a terminator.”
Vasan encouraged everyone to carry Narcan. The city’s soon-to-be-released overdose data will show staggering new records, he said, adding that one New Yorker dies less than every three hours from a drug overdose.
“Fentanyl is exquisitely dangerous,” Vasan said. “It is completely stressing our entire response to the overdose crisis. People are dying who are dependent on fentanyl, people are dying who are casually using opioids and fentanyl, people are dying who are using non-opioids that are contaminated with fentanyl.”
Police have tested more than 150 pounds of fentanyl so far this year, Kenny said.
“This drug is so dangerous that we even limit the amount that our lab personnel tests,” he said.
Adams held up a photo of a small bag of fentanyl in front of reporters on Monday.
“Less than a tenth of the size of a fingernail [of fentanyl] can kill an adult, so imagine what it can do to a child,” he said. “There needs to be a full national assault on this drug entering our city.”
Samantha Max contributed to reporting.
Clarification: This story was updated to more accurately describe the procedure of mandatory background checks on day care operators. They must declare all household members who are over 18 years old so background checks can be conducted.
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public safety
Bahar Ostadan
Bahar Ostadan covers the NYPD and public safety. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or message Bahar on Signal at 646-740-7335.
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