NEW YORK — The husband of the owner of a New York City day care center where a 1-year-old child died of suspected fentanyl was captured in Mexico, several media outlets reported on Tuesday.
Felix Herrera-Garcia was arrested on a bus heading to the state of Sinaloa, Mexico by Mexican police and Drug Enforcement Administration agents, WNBC-TV reported.
He is the husband of Grei Mendez, who owned and operated the Divino Niño Day Care center in the Bronx, according to WABC-TV. Herrera-Garcia had been on the run for more than a week.
#BREAKING: Husband of Bronx day care owner arrested after 1-year-old's death: sources https://t.co/SBFTQJAFHm
— Eyewitness News (@ABC7NY) September 26, 2023
WNBC reported that Herrera-Garcia traveled from New York to Texas, and that authorities began tracking him when he crossed into Mexico.
Surveillance photos allegedly showed Herrera-Garcia moving shopping bags from the day care center on Sept. 15, leaving the business into a back alley and leaving through overgrown grass, WCBS-TV reported.
Prosecutors claim that Mendez called Herrera-Garcia before dialing 911 to get help for the children who were displaying overdose symptoms, according to the television station.
Police continue to investigate the death of a toddler identified by WPIX-TV as Nicholas Dominici.
On Friday, authorities said they found fentanyl under a trap door at the day care center where four young children were exposed to the drug last week, leading to the death of Dominici, according to police and WABC.
Herrera-Garcia is the fourth person arrested in connection with the day care center incident, WCBS reported. Authorities have charged Mendez, 36, and her husband’s cousin, Carlisto Acevedo Brito, 41, with murder with depraved indifference, the television station reported.
Renny Antonio Parra Paredes was arrested on Monday, according to WCBS.
It was unclear what charges Herrera-Garcia might face.
Authorities found Dominici and two other children, aged 2 years and 8 months, unresponsive after they were called to the day care. First responders recognized that the children were showing symptoms of opioid exposure and administered the overdose treatment Narcan, officials said. They were taken to a hospital, where Dominici died.
Authorities said that another 2-year-old, whose mother had earlier picked him up from the day care center, also showed signs of opioid exposure. She took him to a hospital, where he was given Narcan, New York Police Department Chief of Detectives Joe Kenny told reporters.
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