NEW YORK — A man was sentenced Wednesday to decades behind bars the fentanyl-related death of a 1-year-old boy at a Bronx daycare last year.
Prosecutors say Felix Herrera-Garcia35, had a large-scale fentanyl drug packaging factory in the same apartment where his wife operated a daycare center. He pleaded guilty to drug trafficking.
Federal prosecutors asked the judge for a life sentence, but he was ultimately sentenced to 45 years behind bars.
Fentanyl found hidden in Bronx daycare after 1-year-old overdose death
It’s been a year since Herrera-Garcia fled the daycare alley with several bags after four children were exposed to fentanyl and overdosed inside. One of those children 1-year-old Nicholas Dominicidead.
Herrera-Garcia was arrested nearly two weeks later when authorities found him in Mexico.
Federal prosecutors said in court that Herrera-Garcia used the daycare for drug trafficking. where the drugs were ‘hidden under the babies’. After the overdoses, the police say they found three kilos of press and more than two kilos of fentanyl at the daycare. Officers too discovered a hatch with a secret compartment which contained more than 5 kilos of fentanyl and other drugs.
The family of Nicholas Dominici were seen leaving court on Wednesday and did not want to speak on camera. They made victim impact statements in court, saying that a year later they are still grieving the loss of their son and wondering what he was like during his last moments alive.
The families of the three children who overdosed and survived were also in the courtroom.
The Bronx District Attorney’s Office is also charging Herrera-Garcia with crimes related to the case.
Shosh Bedrosian
