Title: Investigation Underway as Toddler Dies and Three Children Hospitalized at Bronx Daycare
Date: [Insert Date]
Location: Kingsbridge, The Bronx
In a tragic turn of events, a one-year-old boy named Nicholas Dominici was found dead at Divino Nino Daycare in Kingsbridge, Bronx, after just one week of attending the facility. First responders were called to the daycare on Friday afternoon after reports of cardiac arrest.
The investigation took a chilling turn when drug production equipment was discovered on the premises, leading to suspicions that the equipment may have been responsible for the child’s death and the hospitalization of three other young children. Law enforcement sources have confirmed that two individuals associated with the daycare, a woman running the facility and another man, have been taken into custody with charges pending.
Carlisto Acevedo Brito, 41, and Grei Mendez, 36, have been arrested and face multiple charges including murder, manslaughter, and assault. Both are set to appear in court on Sunday. Authorities have revealed that Brito is a tenant renting a room from Mendez, who is the cousin of Mendez’s husband.
According to law enforcement officials, the daycare was operating within a converted apartment. During a police search warrant, a kilo press, commonly used for drug packaging, was discovered. It remains unknown what type of drugs were potentially being manufactured at the premise or how the children came into contact with them.
“This is an item that is commonly used by drug dealers when packaging large quantities of drugs,” stated NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny during a news conference.
NYPD Police Commissioner Edward Caban said, “We don’t know exactly what happened to those babies,” as the investigation continues. The DEA has joined the investigation to shed light on this tragedy.
Officials have shared that the children had eaten something around 1 p.m. and were put to nap at the daycare. When the workers attempted to wake them up at 2:30 p.m., three of the children were found unconscious. Sadly, Nicholas Dominici was pronounced dead at Montefiore hospital. Another two-year-old boy remains in critical condition, while an eight-month-old girl and another two-year-old boy were also rushed to the hospital.
Investigators suspect that the children had been exposed to unknown opioids over an extended period. In a separate incident, a two-year-old boy who left the daycare at around 12:15 p.m. was found by his mother “acting lethargic and unresponsive”. The mother rushed him to the hospital, where the opioid-reversal medication Narcan saved his life.
The Medical Examiner will conduct an autopsy to determine the cause of Dominici’s death, while doctors will test the urine and blood of the surviving children to identify the drugs they were exposed to.
Heartbroken and devastated, Otoniel Feliz, the father of Nicholas Dominici, mourns the loss of his son. Feliz expressed disbelief and grief, stating, “I love him, I miss him, I want him back.”
Divino Nino Daycare, which caters to children aged six weeks to 12 years, had opened in January and recently passed an unannounced inspection with no violations found.
Following the incident, the fire department conducted tests to detect environmental hazards but found no evidence of carbon monoxide. The focus then shifted to possible opioid exposure, prompting a search warrant that unveiled the drug packaging device in various spaces within the facility.
The investigation into this heartbreaking incident is ongoing, as authorities work tirelessly to bring justice to those responsible for the death of Nicholas Dominici and the harm caused to the other children.