Bronx day care owner Grei Mendez, cousin-in-law Carlisto Brito due in court on murder charges in 1-year-old boy’s fentanyl death

By ZINNIA MALDONADO

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    NEW YORK, NY (WCBS) — A Bronx day care owner and her cousin-in-law will be in court Thursday to face murder charges in the deadly fentanyl overdose of a 1-year-old boy.

It comes as the owner’s husband is set to appear separately in federal court.

Grei Mendez and Carlisto Acevedo Brito face murder and drug charges in the death of 1-year-old Nicholas Dominici, along with associate Renny Antonio Parra Paredes and Mendez’s husband, Felix Herrera-Garcia.

Dominici died of a fentanyl overdose on Sept. 15, and three other children were hospitalized after being exposed to the drug that investigators believe the four suspects were distributing out of the day care.

Prosecutors say a kilogram of fentanyl, along with multiple fentanyl presses used to process the drug, were found in a closet. Officers also discovered a trap door with a secret compartment that contained more than five kilograms of fentanyl and other drugs.

Herrera-Garcia was arrested last week after he was located in Mexico. He is charged with conspiracy to distribute narcotics resulting in death and is expected to make his first appearance in federal court this afternoon.

The Bronx district attorney is set to hold a press conference with an update on the case at 1 p.m. Watch streaming live on CBS News New York.

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