New York City Detection of Pentanyl in a Bronx apartment: A case study of an exposure to depraved indifference

Prior to finding drugs beneath the trap door, police had already announced the discovery of a kilogram of fentanyl that was stored near mats that children used for sleeping, along with multiple devices used by traffickers for mixing drugs and pressing it into bricks.

New York City detectives executing a search warrant on a Bronx apartment found narcotics, including a large quantity of fentanyl and other paraphernalia hidden by plywood and tile flooring. Photos shared by police show bags full of powder inside the “trap floor,” a few steps away from a shelf of children’s toys.

A week ago, four children were treated for overdoses at a Bronx day care. Nicholas Dominici, one of the victims, is thought to have died from the exposure.

The day care center operator, Grei Mendez, and a tenant of the building, Carlisto Acevedo Brito, were charged with murder of “depraved indifference” in Dominici’s death. Authorities are still seeking a third individual, Mendez’s husband and a cousin to Brito.

After realizing some of the kids in her care were not waking up from their naps, she began to cover up the drug operation.

Williams and Mendez: The Loss of a Child in a Den at a Children’s Center, New York, United Nations Facility

Before alerting first responders, she called her husband, authorities said. He was seen on the security cameras entering the building and then leaving through a back alley with multiple bags.

“All of that occurred while the children, the babies, were in desperate need of help and were suffering from effects of the drug Fentanyl,” Williams said at the press conference.

During a court appearance in New York, an attorney for Mendez said she had not knowledge of the drug operation, while suggesting her husband was responsible for the drugs.

If convicted of federal charges, they face up to life in prison for possession of narcotics with intent to distribute. They were also charged in state court with murder, manslaughter, and assault.

An option for a day care for eight or so children in a house used as a drug den is the best available for struggling parents, and it shows how limited their options are. Nicholas’s father, Otoniel Feliz, has said that he had no idea that a tenant was living there when he sent his son to the center. He might have made a different decision if he had known.

The apartment housed a single person, Ms. Zhao and her children, a 9-year-old boy and her father who was charged with the killing. The families disagreed about the condition of the kitchen and bathroom, and internet access, which come with living together.