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The 1-year-old boy who died earlier this month at a Bronx day care found to house a covert drug-dealing operation died of a fentanyl overdose, the city medical examiner’s office confirmed Friday as it ruled his death a homicide.
Little Nicholas Feliz Dominici was inside the Divino Niño Daycare in Kingsbridge on Sept. 15 when he died of acute fentanyl intoxication, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled Friday.
The manner of death was determined to be a homicide, according to the ME’s office.
Four people have been hit with federal charges over Nicholas’s death.
Authorities allege the defendants – including the day care owner, Grei Mendez, and her husband Felix Herrera, who lived next door – ran a fentanyl-peddling operation out of the basement facility, leading to the tot’s death and to three other children being injured.
Herrera, 38, who was nabbed on a bus by Mexican authorities Tuesday after 10 days on the run, is charged with conspiracy to distribute narcotics resulting in death in a federal complaint unsealed by Manhattan federal prosecutors.
Herrera was being flown from Tijuana to San Diego, where he later appeared in federal court before Magistrate Judge Michael S. Berg and was ordered to be sent to New York to face the charges.
The four children were sickened allegedly from exposure to fentanyl stored under two trap doors at the center and in closets on top of play mats.
Mendez and Carlisto Acevedo Brito, 41, Herrera’s cousin, were arrested the day after Nicholas’ death and charged with murder, assault and child endangerment.
This week, a third alleged accomplice, Renny Antonio Parra Parades, 38, was also charged for his role in the alleged drug operation.
Herrera — described as “the main player” in the alleged drug business — was in the middle of another drug-related death last year when someone he allegedly identified as his own brother overdosed and died, law enforcement sources told The Post this week.
Authorities initially said they uncovered a kilo of fentanyl sitting on mats the children slept on, according to court papers. They also seized several “kilo presses,” which are usually used to combine the drug with cocaine or heroin.
A week later, more drugs were found hidden under a trap door at the day care center.
The stash – which the NYPD said included fentanyl, other narcotics and drug paraphernalia – was discovered in a 4-inch-deep hiding spot below the apartment’s tile-on-wood flooring, according to photos shared by the department.
Otoniel Feliz, the dad of tragic tot Nicholas Feliz Dominici, told reporters his little son had only been going to Divino Nino Daycare for a week before his death.
“It’s really hard … we are all heartbroken,” Feliz said.
“The drugs … this is dangerous,” he added. “My boy died. But it can be yours.”
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