Two men connected to a toddler’s fatal opioid overdose at a New York City daycare have pleaded guilty to drug charges and causing bodily harm, prosecutors said.
The men admitted to storing fentanyl in the floorboards of a Bronx daycare's playroom, prosecutors said.
Felix Herrera Garcia, 35 pleaded guilty Monday to three felony drug trafficking charges, including narcotics possession with intent to distribute resulting in serious bodily injury.
Prosecutors said they secured a guilty plea from Parras Paredes, 38, on one similar count. Both men are from the Bronx.
One 22-month-old child, Nicholas Dominici, died from ingesting fentanyl at the Divino Niño daycare in September. Three other children survived after medics administered the overdose-reversing drug Narcan.
Nicholas’ father Otoniel Feliz told CBS News that the little boy had been at the daycare centre for just a week. Mr Feliz said that the daycare had been recommended to him by the Kingsbridge Heights Community Center.
“We spoke to the ones who are in charge ... They recommended that place and apparently complied with all of the rules,” Mr Feliz said. “We were on a waitlist for our son to qualify. Apparently, the place passed all of the inspections. Supposedly that apartment was only for daycares, but the rumor is, from what we have heard, they also rented rooms.”
The center, which was advertised for children between 6 weeks and 12 years old, was licensed under the city’s Department of Children and Family Services. It had passed all inspections without violations, including a surprise visit by city authorities on 6 September 2023.
Herrera fled the US after the overdoses and was on the run in Mexico for about two weeks before he was arrested.
Herrera's wife, allegedly the operator of the daycare, along with one other person, were charged separately with murder, narcotics possession, and assault.
Herrera and Paredes face a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in prison, prosecutors said.
