Two New Yorkers suspected of trafficking fentanyl out of a daycare center leading to the fatal poisoning of a baby pleaded guilty, prosecutors announced Monday.
Felix Herrera Garcia, 35, of the Bronx, admitted just before trial Monday to possessing, intending to distribute and conspiring to distribute narcotics that caused death and serious bodily injury, prosecutors Damian Williams and Darcel D. Clark announced, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York. Renny Antonio Parra Paredes, 38, also of the Bronx, pleaded guilty May 23 to conspiracy to distribute narcotics.
Both suspects pleaded guilty in connection with the fentanyl poisoning of four children aged under three—one of whom died—at the Divino Nino Day Care Center in the Bronx Sept. 15, 2023, the prosecuting office’s statement revealed. The suspects and their alleged accomplices “maintained large quantities of fentanyl, including more than 10 kilograms of narcotics hidden inside secret compartments, or traps, located beneath the floor of the Daycare’s playroom,” the allegations partly read. This reportedly led to the children in the daycare being exposed to fentanyl.
The fentanyl poisoning killed 22-month-old Nicholas Dominici who swallowed the substance and seriously injured child Abel, while it caused “harm to Kiara and Jaziel,” prosecutors further alleged. (RELATED: ‘Wanna Be Gang Banger’ Arrested While Babysitting For Allegedly Having Enough Fentanyl To Kill 126,000 People)
Herrera Garcia faces 20 years to life in prison for each of his “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,” the prosecutors said.
Parra Paredes also faces 20 years to life in prison for his “one count of conspiracy to distribute narcotics resulting in death and serious bodily injury,” according to the prosecutors.
“[T]his case shocks the conscience of the City, and now Herrera Garcia and Parra Paredes have been brought to justice for this heinous crime,” Williams said in part, according to the prosecuting office’s statement.
