2 men plead guilty to federal charges in connection to 1-year-old’s overdose death at a Bronx day care
By Maria Sole Campinoti and Zenebou Sylla, CNN
(CNN) — Two men have pleaded guilty to federal charges in connection to the overdose death of a 1-year-old boy and the hospitalization of three other children at a day care in the Bronx, New York, last year.
On the morning his trial was set to begin in Manhattan Monday, Felix Herrera Garcia, 35, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute narcotics resulting in death and serious bodily injury, one count of possession with intent to distribute narcotics resulting in death and one count of possession with intent to distribute narcotics resulting in serious bodily injury, according to a statement from the US Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of New York.
All three counts carry a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in prison, with a maximum sentence of life in prison, prosecutors said.
Herrera Garcia is the husband of Grei Mendez, the owner and operator of the day care, court documents showed. He was captured by authorities in Mexico 11 days after the incident.
The charges stemmed from the death of Nicholas Dominici, 1, in 2023 after he and three others were exposed to suspected opioids at the Divino Niño day care in the Bronx.
“Herrera Garcia has now been held accountable in the tragic loss of little Nicholas, the serious injury of Abel, and the harm to Kiara and Jaziel,” Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark said in a statement Monday.
About two weeks ago, a co-conspirator, Renny Antonio Parra Paredes, 38, pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute narcotics and stipulated his conduct caused death and serious bodily injury “in connection with his role in the poisonings,” prosecutors said. His guilty plea carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in prison, with a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Paredes has “accepted responsibility for his offense” and “expressed his sadness and remorse for the harm to the children that he was a part of causing,” Paredes’ attorney John Kaley told CNN. “He also offered his most sincere apology to the families affected by the presence of drugs at the Daycare facility for what had occurred to their children.”
Mendez, the owner of the day care, and another defendant, Carlisto Acevedo Brito, are also facing federal charges in relation to the case.
The US attorney’s office told CNN Monday their cases are still pending.
Mendez and Brito are also both facing state murder charges in connection to the infant’s death, according to the Bronx DA’s office.
According to court documents, Brito is Herrera Garcia’s cousin and a tenant who resided in a bedroom within the day care.
All four people arrested as part of the alleged conspiracy were said to be mid-level drug distributors, a federal law enforcement official previously told CNN.
CNN has reached out to the other three defendants’ attorneys for comment.
CNN’s Celina Tebor, John Miller and Mark Morales contributed to this report.
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