An NYPD sweep of a Bronx day center where a one-year-old child was killed and three others sickened by opioid exposure uncovered a drug-packaging device as Mayor Adams vowed Saturday to discover who was responsible.
“This is an active investigation and we are going to find out the cause of this incident,” Adams said at a media briefing. “This crisis is real and it is a wake-up call.”
The owner of the Kingsbridge Heights Community Center was taken into custody Friday after the fatal incident where three kids, including an 8-month-old girl, were saved when treated with Narcan after showing symptoms of opioid exposure, said NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny. Attempts to revive the unresponsive 1-year-old victim Nicholas Dominici failed, with the Bronx baby pronounced dead at Montefiore Hospital.
“My heart is broken,” said the boy’s father, fighting off tears Saturday, to the Daily News, while the day care operator declined to comment when reached by the News and asked about possible criminal charges or how the drugs wound up in the facility.
No charges were immediately filed in the tragedy, with a neighbor recounting the scene Friday when first responders arrived.
Sam Costanza for New York Daily News
Police are seen on Morris Ave. where on Sept. 15, 2023, at least one child died as a result of coming into contact with a poisonous substance in the Divino Nino Day Care.
“The ambulance rushed out a baby,” said longtime local resident Alex Vega, 32. “Everybody knew he was dead already, because he was unresponsive. They were really trying. He was purple.”
He described the owner as hanging outside the day care during her off-hours, “drinking and hookah and playing dominoes” into the early morning hours.
“In a way, I’m not surprised that it happened there in that day care,” he added. “She didn’t fit my criteria to be a day care person.”
The state Office of Children and Family Services, without going into detail, confirmed they were part of the investigation into the child’s death.
“OCFS’s top priority is the health and safety of all children in child care programs and we are deeply saddened by this horrific tragedy,” said an agency statement. “We cannot comment further on an active agency and law enforcement investigation.”
The day care’s door was blocked by yellow police tape Saturday, with a police car parked on the sidewalk as police detectives gathered at the site.
Building super Neyl Garcia described the basement housing the day care as one bedroom, one living room, one bathroom, a small kitchen and a hallway. And Bronx Civil Court documents showed the tenant was behind on her rent by more than $3,000.
