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After one-year-old Nicholas Dominici died on Saturday, September 16, due to exposure to fentanyl, the owner of the Bronx daycare and her tenant were arrested. Dominici became unwell on Friday, September 15, after being exposed to narcotics at the facility under Grei Mendez's supervision.
Nicholas Dominici's parents, Otoniel Feliz and Zoila Dominici, are struggling to come to terms with the loss of their one-year-old son. On Saturday, Feliz finally spoke with The New York Daily News. He said:
“Nobody expects to send your kids to a safe place … and next you have a phone call saying ‘Your child has died’.”
Feliz also said that the death of his son, Nicholas Dominici, was an utter shock as he thought the daycare was a safe place for his infant. Nicholas' mother described the place as "cheerful, affordable," with "a good reputation" to The New York Times.
The entire incident sparked outrage amongst netizens. They took to Instagram to criticize the daycare and the authorities for their negligence.
Nicholas Dominici’s parents and netizens are heartbroken by his untimely death
When Nicholas Dominici died from what investigators believe to have been a fentanyl overdose, he had just finished his first week at the Bronx daycare. Moreover, three other kids also got sick for the same reason.
Nicholas' father and mother were in tears. The mother said that her child had only attended the center for one week and that the place had been referred to the family by the community center. She had never been to the daycare before her son's first day there. She claimed she did not notice any warning signs.
“I didn't see anything that looked out of the ordinary,” she said, adding, “Just little beds and toys.”
She said that the daycare's owner played calming music while the children napped and that she appeared responsible. Nicholas' mother claimed that her son was adjusting to his new circumstances nicely.
Feliz, the father of the toddler, spoke to CBS News and said that the daycare appeared to follow all the guidelines. They were initially put on a waiting list because for Nicholas Dominici to be admitted, they had to clear some inspections. Later, it seemed as if they did, as their kid made the cut and was admitted.
“The hardest thing is for me to come home and open that door and not see Nicholas saying, 'Dad, Dad.' It is too hard. We can't. Because the irresponsibility of people that don't know, they don't know that playing with drugs and leaving them where kids can reach them is too dangerous,” Nicholas' father said.
"Look at what happened. If I had known, I wouldn't have taken him," he added.
The death of the toddler by fentanyl outraged netizens. Many took to the Instagram post uploaded by @theshaderoom and flooded the comment section with criticism. Seeing the news agencies asking questions to the heartbroken father, some even asked those agencies to leave him alone.
Other details of the case
As mentioned, fentanyl affected four infants. Three children were hospitalized while Nicholas Dominici died. Two kids were fine; however, the mother of another two-year-old kid discovered him "acting lethargic and unresponsive." He was administered at BronxCare Health System after being transported there. Later, reports claimed that he was fine as well.
According to CBS News, court records claim that Grei Mendez, 36, and Carlisto Acevedo Brito, 41, were accused of multiple crimes, like killing a person, manslaughtering a person, assaulting a person, endangering the welfare of a child, and illegally possessing a controlled substance. As of Sunday evening, they were charged and kept in custody without bond.
