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Lawyer says woman charged in Bronx day care death is 'paying for somebody else's crime'
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Brittany Kriegstein
Published Sep 22, 2023
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Brittany Kriegstein/Gothamist
By
Brittany Kriegstein
Published Sep 22, 2023
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Just a few days before Grei Mendez became the face of the Bronx daycare center where a 1-year-old child died of fentanyl poisoning, many in her world saw the 36-year-old as a mother trying to make ends meet for her own four children.
On Mendez's social media accounts, her children, who range in age from 18 months to 20 years old, take center stage. There are photos of beach trips and school ceremonies; a pregnancy announcement in April 2021; and a recent profile photo showing Mendez holding her toddler in her arms.
“She's very close to all the kids from what I could see. They're in my office almost twice a day,” said Andres Manuel Aranda, Mendez’s lawyer.
But Mendez's image as a doting mother is squarely at odds with how the world knows her now: as the woman who ran the day care center where Nicholas Dominici, 1, was found dead and three other toddlers were found unconscious, and where police found more than a kilogram of fentanyl, which is enough to kill half a million people.
Mendez and her alleged accomplice, Carlisto Acevedo Brito, have been charged with murder, manslaughter, criminal possession of a controlled substance and child endangerment in Bronx criminal court. They are both also being prosecuted in federal court for conspiracy and intent to distribute narcotics.
Aranda said that Mendez worries about what the charges will mean for her own children.
“You know, this lady doesn't fit the profile of a drug dealer. She had $100 in the bank, from what I understand. She was keeping down two jobs, not necessarily somebody who's out there dealing with a kilo weight,” Aranda said.
According to Aranda, Mendez started the day care center in the basement apartment of her building because she likes kids and wanted to make a better living. She lived with her family on the second floor.
But some neighbors told the New York Post the day care seemed more like a front for the drug operation. Police released photographs on Thursday showing that the floor of the facility had been specially modified to conceal what they said were large quantities of narcotics and paraphernalia.
Mendez’s own toddler narrowly escaped the fate that befell little Nicholas Dominici, according to Aranda.
“He was there the day before, and he would have been there except for the fact that a relative took him somewhere that day. But he was there every day, that little kid,” Aranda said.
Grei Mendez
Mendez came to New York City from Navarrete, a municipality in the northwestern part of the Dominican Republic that’s known primarily for its rice and tobacco production.
She arrived legally on a green card about seven years ago, Aranda said, “for the same reason everybody comes to New York: to work and make a better living.”
Before starting the day care, Mendez had worked as a home health aide, which Aranda said she was still doing recently in order to make extra money.
Several of Mendez's friends who said they knew her from the Dominican Republic did not want to comment on her or the case. Her adult children declined to be interviewed for this story.
Three days before the children from the day care were hospitalized, Mendez celebrated her birthday, according to messages left by friends on her Facebook page.
According to the federal court complaint, that was the same day Brito received a message from an unnamed individual saying they’d left “a torta” in a white bag on the table of the apartment, which also housed the day care facility. “Torta” in Spanish means cake or sandwich, but can also be used to refer to a kilogram of narcotics, according to the complaint.
Aranda said that Mendez didn’t know there were any narcotics in the facility.
“She's distraught about what happened with the children, especially Nico … and she feels that she's being held unjustly. She's paying for somebody else's crime, basically,” Aranda said.
Prosecutors say that after discovering the unconscious toddlers on the afternoon of Sept. 15, Mendez made a call to a day care employee and then two calls to her husband, before dialing 911.
Prior to handing her phone over to be searched by law enforcement, Mendez allegedly deleted more than 21,000 messages between her and her husband dating back to March 30, 2021. She also texted her husband to warn him that police were asking questions about his whereabouts and advise him to look for a lawyer, according to the federal court complaint.
Mendez’s husband has not yet been arrested, and his name has not been released. Court documents state that Brito is a cousin of Mendez’s husband, and was renting a room from the couple.
“I don't think she went down this road,” Aranda said. “That's the whole thing. I think that she, unfortunately, may have gotten involved with the wrong people.”
According to the federal complaint, Mendez claimed she cleaned the day care six days each week “from top to bottom,” and that the packaged fentanyl and kilo presses police found inside could have been left “by a prior occupant.”
She did not provide any explanation as to why her husband appeared on surveillance video carrying bags out of the day care through the alleyway just moments before first responders arrived.
On Thursday afternoon, a Bronx grand jury voted to indict Mendez and Brito, indicating they felt there was enough evidence presented by the Bronx district attorney's office to go to trial. The indictment will remain sealed until their next court date Oct. 5.
The trap door found by NYPD detectives in the floor of the daycare was stocked with additional fentanyl, other narcotics and drug paraphernalia, police said. A child’s toy truck is visible in the background of one of the pictures police provided.
“She’s going to plead not guilty, I’m going to fight it very vigorously,” Aranda said. “She’s worried, she’s scared, she’s concerned for herself, for her children, for her family.”
In 2015, Mendez posted on her Facebook a photo of a card adorned with hearts and pink ink. In it, her two daughters told her how much they loved her.
“I want you to take care of yourself, move forward and never forget that… we support you and we love you a lot because you are my mom,” one of them penned in Spanish.
About a year later, Mendez posted a photo of herself looking cheerful while holding a cordless phone.
“You don’t know when your last smiles will be and remember that God’s time is perfect, everything happens for a reason,” she wrote in Spanish.
Tagged
child care
nypd
public safety
Brittany Kriegstein
Brittany Kriegstein covers all breaking news around New York City, with a focus on crime and gun violence. Got a tip? Email Brittany at [email protected].
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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