A former Bronx day care owner and her husband have been sentenced to 25 years to life in prison in connection with the fentanyl poisoning death of a toddler, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Grei Mendez, 38, and Felix Herrera Garcia, 37, were found guilty of second-degree murder in November 2025 after 22-month-old Nicholas Dominici died of fentanyl poisoning while under their care in September 2023, the Bronx district attorney’s office said.
What You Need To Know
A former Bronx day care owner and her husband have been sentenced to 25 years to life in prison in connection with the fentanyl poisoning death of a toddler, prosecutors said Wednesday
Grei Mendez, 38, and Felix Herrera Garcia, 37, were found guilty of second-degree murder in November 2025 after 22-month-old Nicholas Dominici died of fentanyl poisoning while under their care in September 2023, the Bronx district attorney’s office said
Prosecutors say the two ran an illegal drug operation out of the day care. Three other children were also poisoned by fentanyl the day Dominici died, but survived the exposure, according to the DA’s office
Mendez and Garcia are both already serving 45 years in prison for federal drug charges, and their state prison sentences will run concurrently to those federal sentences, prosecutors said
In explaining her reasoning for imposing the maximum sentence for second degree murder, State Supreme Court Judge Margaret Clancy said she believed the defendants — who are also parents — knew the danger of the drugs they stored in their daycare.
Prosecutors accused Mendez, Garcia and several others of running a drug lab out of the Divino Ninos day care center and storing large quantities of opioids in areas where children played and slept.
Three other children, include a 2-year-old and his 8-month-old sister, were also poisoned by fentanyl the day Dominici died, but survived the exposure, according to the DA’s office.
Mendez and Garcia are both already serving 45 years in prison for federal drug charges, and their state prison sentences will run concurrently to those federal sentences, prosecutors said.
Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark and the boy’s parents spoke out after the sentencing Wednesday.
“That beautiful smile you see, on that picture right here, that was Nicholas every day,” the boy’s father, Otoniel Feliz, said. “And those people [took] his life, his rights, away from him.”
“I know that you’re never going to stop missing him and grieving for Nicholas,” Clark added. “This has been a catastrophe not only for you, but for our community.”
Mendez was also sentenced to 25 years for first-degree assault, while Garcia was also sentenced to seven years for second-degree assault, in connection with the three other children who were also poisoned.
“At this point, those 25 years-to-life, plus those 45 years on federal court, is enough time,” Feliz said. “They never gonna come out.”