Man described as leader of a NYC narcotic mill that doubled as daycare is sentenced a year after one-year-old boy’s fentanyl overdose at the center

Felix Herrera Garcia, 35, was sentenced to 45 years in prison on Wednesday after pleading guilty to federal drug charges

Feds accused of operating a drug mill out of a daycare in the Bronx run by his wife, Grei Mendez De Ventura, 37

Nicholas Feliz Dominici died on Sept 15, 2023, after being exposed to fentanyl at the Divino Niño Daycare center in the Bronx, owned and operated by Garcia’s wife, Grei Mendez

Garcia’s wife, Grei Mendez De Ventura, 37, along with her husband’s cousin, Carlisto Acevedo Brito, 42, and and Renny Antonio Parra Paredes, 39, are facing trial for drug distribution

Felix Herrera Garcia [photo], 35, was sentenced to 45 years in prison on Wednesday after pleading guilty to federal drug charges. Feds described him as the leader of a drug mill operating out of a NYC daycare run by his wife, Grei Mendez De Ventura

The leader of a drug mill that operated out of his wife’s daycare has learned his fate after the death of one-year-old boy died who overdosed on fentanyl in her care. 
Felix Herrera Garcia, 35, was sentenced to 45 years in prison on Wednesday after pleading guilty to federal drug charges.
Nicholas Feliz Dominici died on September 15, 2023, after being exposed to fentanyl at the Divino Niño Daycare center in the Bronx – owned by Garcia’s wife, Grei Mendez De Ventura, 37. Grei Mendez was also indicted along with her husband’s cousin, Carlisto Acevedo Brito, 42, and and Renny Antonio Parra Paredes, 39.
Prosecutors said the couple had been using the daycare as a drug mill from at least October 2022 and Dominici had only been enrolled there for one week before he died.
‘I can tell you something for sure, to celebrate your child’s birthday in a cemetery is not an easy thing,’ the boy’s mother, Zoila Dominici, said at sentencing, according to the New York Post.

Victim: One-year-old Nicholas Feliz Dominici [photo], died after being exposed to fentanyl at the Divino Niño Daycare center in the Bronx, where Garcia, his wife and relatives ran a drug mill in Sept 2023

Garcia fled to Mexico after the toddler’s death and photos show him leaving the daycare through the backdoor then running off. He was arrested a week later after a manhunt.
Mendez reportedly called her husband twice and then deleted more than 21,000 messages before alerting the authorities to the unresponsive children. 
Dominici was pronounced dead at the scene, while two two-year-old boys and an eight-month-old baby girl were saved with the overdose-reversal drug Narcan. 
‘I know that perhaps my apology today means nothing, but for me, it matters very much,’ Garcia said at his sentencing.
‘I know this won’t be easy, but I ask if they can ever forgive me. I have nightmares about what happened that day.’

In court the DA’s office presented photos of the several drug stashes uncovered at the Divino Nino Daycare where one-year-old Nicholas Feliz Dominici died of a fentanyl overdose

Herrera Garcia and others maintained more than 11 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.
In the aftermath, photos shared by police showed bags full of powder inside the ‘trap floor,’ a few steps away from a shelf of children’s toys.

The evidence includes controlled substances that Police found under the floor boards – beneath a padded mat where children napped – at the daycare

There were no previous complaints made against Divino Nino Daycare in the Bronx, NYC, until the death of little Nicholas Feliz Dominici in Sept 2023, within a week of his enrollment at the daycare

Drug dealer Felix Herrera Garcia was caught on surveillance cameras exiting the back of the building as he fled to Mexico after the toddler’s death

According to the investigation, a kilo of fentanyl was found in a closet in the daycare, and six kilos of fentanyl, heroin and other controlled substances were found under the floor, beneath a padded mat where children napped.
Cops also found multiple devices used by traffickers for mixing drugs and pressing it into bricks.

Garcia’s wife, Grei Mendez De Ventura, 37, the owner/operator of the Bronx daycare is on trial on similar charges as her husband

Garcia’s cousin, Carlisto Acevedo Brito, 42, was arrested and faces trial on narcotics distribution charges

According to reports, no previous complaints were made against Divino Nino Daycare.
The daycare had a capacity of eight children between the ages of six weeks to 12 years old, records show.
m It was the boy’s first week at the daycare according to his dad, Otoniel Feliz.
‘We had a good recommendation. We were told it was a great place. It looked like a nice place,’ he explained.

Otoniel Feliz consoles his wife Zoila Dominici at the press conference announcing the charges against the operators of the Divino Niño Daycare where their toddler Nicholas Feliz Dominici [photo], died on September 15, 2023

Little comfort: Bereaved parents Otoniel Feliz and Zoila Dominici, leaving Manhattan Federal Court after the sentencing of their son’s killer Felix Herrera-Garcia on Wednesday

But within one week of being cared for at the daycare, Nicholas ingested the highly toxic opioid fentanyl.
Prosecutors said Garcia was seen fleeing the daycare out a back alley, carrying two heavy shopping bags while children were suffering from the drug effects.
One-year-old Nicholas Dominici died, and three other young children, ranging in age from eight months to two years, were hospitalized and treated with Narcan.
Garcia and his wife were charged along with Garcia’s cousin Carlisto Acevedo Brito, 41, and Renny Antonio Parra Paredes, 38, who is up on narcotics distribution charges.
Mendez and Brito’s cases are still pending and they both have pleaded not guilty. Paredes has pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing.