Man Sentenced To 45 Years In Baby's Fentanyl Death At NYC Day Care: DA

NEW YORK CITY — The husband of a city day care owner, who ran a fentanyl trafficking ring that resulted in the death of a toddler last year, has been sentenced to 45 years in prison, prosecutors announced.

Felix Herrera Garcia, 35, and others conspired to distribute narcotics out of Divino Niño Daycare in the Bronx, prosecutors said.

They maintained more than eleven kilograms of fentanyl and heroin in secret compartments, or traps, located underneath the floor tiles in the playroom, where the children played, ate, and slept on a daily basis, prosecutors said.

On September 15, 2023, 22-month-old Nicholas Dominici was killed, and four others were poisoned at the daycare due to fentanyl exposure.

"This case demonstrates the deadly reach and scope of the fentanyl epidemic, and the profound damage it inflicts on American lives, including the lives of the most vulnerable among us," U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement.

Herrera Garcia 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 back in June.

Co-conspirator Renny Antonio Parra Paredes also pleaded guilty in connection to the fentanyl trafficking ring.

Carlisto Acevedo Brito and Herrera Garcia's wife Grei Mendez, 36, are also facing charges, prosecutors said.