NYC Daycare Fentanyl Bust: 3rd Charged After Infant's Death, Feds Say

BRONX, NY — A third person is facing criminal charges after a 1-year-old boy, exposed to fentanyl stored under a trap door in a Bronx daycare center's playroom, lost his life, prosecutors said this week.

Bronx man Renny Anotio Parra Paredes, 38, stands accused of running a drug ring out of the Divino Niño daycare center where four little kids overdosed on fentanyl on Sept. 15, according to the U.S. Attorney's office in New York.

Parades, Grei Mendez, 36, and Carlisto Acevedo Brito, 41, kept drugs on top of play mats and "traps" in the floor where the daycare center's children played and slept, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams contends.

Read More: Police Find Fentanyl In Daycare 'Trap Door' After 4 Children Poisoned

"Parents entrusted Grei Mendez with the care of their children," Williams said. "Instead of diligently safeguarding the wellbeing of those children, she and her co-conspirators put them directly in harm’s way."

In addition to the 1-year-old boy killed, three children were hospitalized with serious injuries linked to fentanyl poisoning, Williams said.

The defendants — who officials say had been dealing fentanyl since July — spent the time between discovering the overdosing children and the arrival of emergency responders trying to get rid of the evidence, prosecutors contend.

The case "has shocked the conscience of a city already reeling from the devastating effects of the fentanyl epidemic," Williams said, adding that addressing the fentanyl epidemic is a "top priority" for him as a U.S. Attorney.

"We brought cases against the targets and cartels in Mexico that manufacture fentanyl, against individuals and companies in China that supply the cartels with precursor chemicals needed to make this poison, and we brought cases against the traffickers who moved the fentanyl through our streets," Williams said. "But this case is different."

The trio faces charges of conspiracy to distribute narcotics resulting in death in connection with the poisonings. If convicted, they could each face between 20 years and life in jail.

Calling the case "every parent's worst nightmare," NYPD Police Commissioner Edward A. Caban said that all of those responsible "will be held accountable."