Police investigators executed a new warrant on Wednesday at the Bronx day care where a 1-year-old child was killed and three others injured last week and uncovered a new stash of drugs hidden beneath where the tots slept, police said.
According to authorities, police once again returned to the tragic scene of 2707 Morris Avenue—where 1-year-old Nicholas Dominici lost his life due to fentanyl exposure—after receiving new information that the infamous El Divino Nino day care held even more narcotics.
Police uncovered a secret compartment beneath the floor of the day care’s playroom where the children apparently slept. Inside the trap door cops discovered what they described as a large amount of narcotics that included fentanyl, the same deadly drug that killed Dominici and hospitalized an 8-month-old girl and a pair of 2-year-old boys.
According to NYPD Lt. John Russo, the trap door was around 4 feet by 6 feet in size and was heavily disguised and could only be lifted with special equipment and knowledge of how to do so.
“It was in a trap underneath the floor that you needed to use a device to lift up,” Lt. Russo said. “You need specific instructions on how to do it. We were able to get those instructions and lift that up. Thankfully, we found these other narcotics because at some point someone else would be living in that apartment.”
Officers, suited up in breathing apparatuses and Tyvek suits, carefully removed kilos of the illegal substance that was tucked snugly between wooden planks in the floor.
Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark said on Thursday that the evidence continues to mount in the case.
“More Drugs were found and more evidence is being recovered each and every day,” Clark said
Lt. Russo added that the investigation remains ongoing and pointed out that the pursuit of justice does not end with an arrest.
“We don’t just stop at the initial, we continue the investigation and received information that there might be some other narcotics secreted in that apartment. So, with another search warrant, we went back to that location,” Lt. Russo said.
This comes hot on the heels of daycare owner 36-year-old Grei Mendez being arrested alongside alleged accomplice 41-year-old Carlisto Acevedo Brito for the horrific crime. However, police say Mendez’s husband is also a suspect in the case and remains on the run at this time.
