Leader of Bronx drug mill that doubled as day care where toddler died hit with 45-year sentence: Every parents nightmare

The sobbing mother of a 1-year-old who died from fentanyl poisoning at a Bronx day care that doubled as a drug den called the tragedy “every parent’s nightmare” as the narcotics mill’s leader was sentenced to 45 years in prison.“I can tell you something for sure, to celebrate your child’s birthday in a cemetery is not an easy thing,” Zoila Dominici, tears streaming down her face, told a Manhattan court as Felix Herrera Garcia was sentenced Wednesday — a week before Nicholas Feliz Dominici would have turned three years old.The convicted drug dealer, who pleaded guilty in June to all charges stemming from the boy’s death at Divino Niño Daycare in Kingsbridge, teared up as well while addressing the court — and pleaded with Dominici’s family to someday forgive him.“I know that perhaps my apology today means nothing, but for me it matters very much,” he said, standing in a jail-issued tan jumpsuit, his fingers pressed into the defense table in front of him.“I know this won’t be easy, but I ask if they can ever forgive me,” he added.

“I have nightmares about what happened that day.”Wednesday’s hearing marked the first sentencing stemming from the shocking death inside the day care where Herrera Garcia and his partners stored 12 kilograms of narcotics in trap doors and closets hidden underneath the mats where toddlers played and took naps, authorities say.Three other children were poisoned as well in the Sept.15, 2023 episode — including one 2-year-old boy who was rushed to the hospital and narrowly avoided death after being revived with the opioid overdose drug Narcan, court papers say.Arriving on the scene after receiving a call from his wife Grei Mendez, who ran the daycare and faces her own criminal charges, Herrera Garcia stayed there for just two minutes before fleeing the building while holding bags of narcotics, photo evidence shows.“With children dying on the floor, he rescues the drugs and not the babies,” federal pr...