THE BRONX, NEW YORK: The owner of a day care facility and her neighbor were arrested in connection to the death of Zoila Dominici and Otoniel Feliz’s one-year-old son, Nicholas Feliz-Dominici, who was apparently exposed to fentanyl.
Grei Mendez De Ventura, a 36-year-old, who owns the Divino Nino day care in The Bronx, was taken in for questioning immediately after a 911 call on Friday, September 15, and is currently facing murder charges.
Nicholas died at the Montefiore Hospital after he was found unresponsive in the basement of the day care facility where he might have inhaled fentanyl, as per The New York Post.
“We don’t know exactly what happened to those babies,” said NYPD Police Commissioner Edward Caban about the situation at The Bronx day care.
Why were The Bronx day care owner and her neighbor arrested?
The police investigation related to Nicholas Feliz-Dominici’s death led to the arrest of Grei Mendez De Ventura and her neighbor, Carlisto Acevedo Brito, 41, who have both been charged with murder. However, the nature of their relationship remains undisclosed.
Nicholas had only been attending the Divino Nino day care for a week before he was found unresponsive following a nap.
Tragically, three other toddlers are believed to have been exposed to the drugs. Two two-year-old boys were hospitalized with one in critical condition and the other stable.
An eight-month-old girl is also said to be stable, as per reports.
Ventura opened the day care facility in May, with a capacity for up to eight children ranging in age from six weeks to 12 years old, according to records.
Surprisingly, the facility had recently passed an unannounced annual inspection on September 6.
However, the NYPD discovered nearly a kilo of fentanyl within an apartment that was also utilized by the day care, along with a kilo press, a device typically employed to combine fentanyl with substances like cocaine or heroin.
Ventura and Brito, who were reportedly recent arrivals from the Dominican Republic, are now facing a total of 28 charges, including murder, drug possession, assault, manslaughter, and child endangerment in connection with the tragic incident, according to Daily Mail.
Nicholas Feliz-Dominici’s father speaks out about his devastating loss
The victim, Nicholas Feliz-Dominici’s father, Otoniel Feliz, 32, appeared visibly emotional as he spoke outside his apartment, located just a 15-minute walk from the childcare center, saying, “It was his first week,” repeating, “This was his first week,” as per Daily Mail.
ABS News reports that Otoniel, a father of five, moved to the US in 2018 from the Dominican Republic, and in 2019, he relocated his family to an apartment close to Divino Nino day care.
He and his wife searched for a suitable day care for their son Nicholas at the Kingsbridge Heights Community Center. They waited nearly a year to find the right place to care for their infant and had heard positive recommendations about Divino Nino day care.
Otoniel expressed that they had a good recommendation and believed it to be a nice place for their child, but fate had other plans.
