OAN’s Abril Elfi
5:01 PM – Saturday, September 16, 2023
A one-year-old boy died and three other children were hospitalized after allegedly “coming into contact with an opioid” at a home-based day care facility in Bronx, New York.
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On Saturday, New York police appeared at a press conference where they said that a child died and three others were hospitalized in critical condition after being allegedly exposed to opioids at Divino Niño Daycare in Kingsbridge, Bronx.
Authorities stated that they received a 9-1-1 call from the daycare on Friday jus before 3:00 p.m. reporting that there were three unconscious children.
According to the NYPD, when investigators arrived at the scene, they found a one and two-year-old and an 8-month-old all unconscious and they revealed they had been exposed to “unknown opioids.”
Additionally to the three victims the investigators had discovered, another 2-year-old boy who had gone home less than an hour before their arrival was found by his mother to be “acting lethargic and unresponsive.”
Reportedly, all of the children had eaten something at around 1:00 p.m. and then took a nap. After their nap was when workers of the daycare went to wake them up and found them to be unresponsive.
“All three children were unresponsive and demonstrating symptoms of opioid exposure. Narcan was administered to all three of these children in an attempt to save their lives,” they said.
Mayor Eric Adams also spoke at the press conference held early on the day after the incidents.
“This crisis is real, and is a real wake-up call for individuals who have opioids or fentanyl in their homes,” Adams said. “Our hearts break for these families that are involved.”
According to NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny, when the police department executed a search warrant at Divino Nino Day Care, they uncovered a kilo press, which is typically used by drug dealers when packing large amounts of cocaine.
Pictures of the Daycare were released where they reportedly show an open box of Lucky Charms cereal with other food near the sink, and a bag of Lays potato chips perilously close to a stove burner. There are also several plastic water bottles in the sink and bags of popcorn are scattered around the microwave.
The woman in charge of the daycare at the time of the incidents, Grei Mendez de Ventura, and the man she sublet the room from, Carlisto Acevedo Brito, have both been taken into custody and are currently being questioned by police regarding the case.
The boy who passed away was identified as one-year-old Nicholas Dominici, however, the other three children’s identities remain private.
According to police, the city medical examiner will conduct an autopsy to identify Dominici’s cause of death, and doctors will collect urine and blood from the surviving children to discover what drugs they were exposed to.
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