Couple sentenced to 25 years to life in fentanyl-related death at Bronx day care
A couple found guilty in the 2023 fentanyl-related death of a 1-year-old at a Bronx day care were sentenced to 25 years to life on Wednesday.
Grei Mendez, Felix Herrera-Garcia convicted of 1-year-old's murder
Back in November, Grei Mendez and Felix Herrera-Garcia were convicted of second-degree murder in the death of Nicholas Dominici.
The two operated Divino Niño Daycare out of a Bronx apartment. Prosecutors said the business was also home to a fentanyl packaging and distribution operation.
Four children at the day care were rushed to the hospital in September 2023 and treated for fentanyl poisoning. Nicholas died.
A kilo of fentanyl was found in a closet, and 12 additional kilos of other narcotic substances were found under a trap door in the floor of the playroom, below where the children played and slept. Kilo presses and drug packaging paraphernalia were also found inside the day care.
Mendez, Herrera-Garcia apologize at sentencing
The defendants and the little boy's parents came face to face in Bronx Supreme Court on Wednesday, with Mendez and Herrera-Garcia addressing the court prior to sentencing by Judge Margaret Clancy.
"I would like to say I'm sorry to the family," Herrera-Garcia said.
"I just want to apologize to the families of the children that I was caring for. They said that I haven't apologized, but I have apologized," Mendez said.
Nicholas' parents, Otoniel Peliz and Ziola Dominici, offered victim impact statements. His mother spoke directly to the defendants in Spanish.
"Only you know the last moments of my son's life," Ziola Dominici said.
"So who pays for that?" Feliz also said through a translator. "The only way that that can be repaid, I believe, is if those people never come out of jail."
"Little Nicholas paid with his life for their greed"
Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark released the following statement after the sentence was handed down:
"A beautiful little boy died and three children aged 8 months to 2 years became seriously ill from fentanyl poisoning. These babies were shields to protect a narcotics operation. Grei Mendez and her husband, Felix Herrera Garcia, showed such depravity that they hid fentanyl under the floor where the children took naps. Little Nicholas paid with his life for their greed; now Mendez and Garcia will spend the rest of their days in prison," Clark said.
"Nicholas was a happy child looking for a place to stay safe, to learn, to play," Feliz said after Mendez and Herrera-Garcia were convicted in November. "Those people was evil. Those people was, you know, careless about human life."
Mendez and Herrera-Garcia were previously sentenced to 45 years in prison on federal drug trafficking charges. Wednesday's sentencing was for the state murder charge.
The DA said the sentencing concludes a tragic chapter in the borough.
"Now they are fully accountable. Drug charges in the federal system. Murder charges and assault charges in the Bronx," Clark said.
