Felix Herrera Garcia has pleaded guilty. He is married to the owner of a daycare in New York City where a baby died after being poisoned with fentanyl.
Three federal counts were brought against Herrera Garcia, 35, on June 10. They were related to “the fatal fentanyl ingestion of 22-month-old Nicholas Dominici and the injury to three other babies at the Divino Niño Day Care Center in the Bronx on September 15, 2023.” A statement from Bronx County District Attorney Darcel D. Clark confirmed these charges.
“He is now responsible for the tragic death of little Nicholas, the serious injury of Abel, and the harm done to Kiara and Jaziel,” Clark said, listing the names of the children who died. All of them were younger than 3 years old.
The minimum sentence for all three charges is 20 years in prison, and the maximum term is life in prison, Clark and U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said on Monday.
One count of a plot to distribute drugs that caused death and serious bodily injury, one count of possession with intent to distribute drugs that caused death, and one count of possession with intent to distribute drugs that caused serious bodily injury were among the charges.
“The injuries and death happened because Felix Herrera Garcia and Renny Antonio Parra Paredes ran an illegal fentanyl business out of the center,” Williams said in a new statement. “That’s where they made the deadly drugs to sell.”
“At the time, we said that this case shocked the city’s conscience,” Williams said. “Now Herrera Garcia and Parra Paredes have been brought to justice for this horrible crime.”
On May 23, Paredes, who is 38 years old, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute drugs that caused death or serious bodily harm.
A judge will decide what punishments to give the suspects later.
Grei Mendez, Herrera Garcia’s wife, and Carlisto Acevedo Brito are both being charged with poisoning because they had a hand in it.
The child’s parents, Otoniel Feliz and Zoila Dominici spoke out soon after the child died.
Feliz told CBS New York in September, “It’s hard for me to open the door at home and not hear Nicholas calling out, ‘Dad, Dad.'” “It’s too tough.”
“Look at what took place,” Dominici said. “I wouldn’t have taken him if I knew.”
