Renny Antonio Parra Paredes is charged with conspiracy to distribute narcotics.
September 25, 2023, 4:06 PM
A third person has been arrested in connection with the New York City day care drug operation that resulted in the death of a 1-year-old boy.
Renny Antonio Parra Paredes was taken into custody Saturday and charged with conspiracy to distribute narcotics. He appears to be a drug dealer doing business with the suspects at the Bronx day care, according to police sources. He appeared in federal court in Lower Manhattan on Monday.
The three arrests in the case stem from the death of 1-year-old Nicholas Dominici, who died on Sept. 15 following exposure to fentanyl at his day care.
A small memorial sits outside the door of a Bronx day care center as police and investigators work, after a 1-year-old child died and three other children were injured from alleged exposure to the drug fentanyl on Sept. 21, 2023, in New York City.
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Three other children, ranging in age from 8 months to 2 years, were hospitalized and treated with Narcan, police said. An analysis of urine from one of the victims confirmed the presence of fentanyl, officials said.
Investigators found a kilo of fentanyl stored on kids’ play mats at the day care, along with a device to press drugs into bricks for sale, according to court records. In a trap floor under the day care’s play area, investigators found fentanyl, other narcotics and drug paraphernalia, police said.
The first two to be arrested were day care owner Grei Mendez and her tenant, Carlisto Acevedo Brito. They face federal charges of narcotics possession with intent to distribute resulting in death and conspiracy to distribute narcotics resulting in death as well as state charges including murder.
A cross honoring one-year-old Nicholas Dominici, who according to media reports died while three other children were hospitalized after being exposed to suspected fentanyl, hangs with NYC building inspection notice outside the Divino Nino day care center in the Bronx borough of New York City, Sept. 25, 2023.
Shannon Stapleton/Reuters
Mendez’s attorney has said she was unaware drugs were being stored in her day care by Brito, her husband’s cousin, to whom she was renting a room for $200 a week.
A search is ongoing for Mendez’s husband, who, according to court records, was seen on video fleeing the day care out of a back alley carrying two trash bags.
Federal authorities last week promised to hold accountable anyone linked to the day care.
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