A third person has been charged following the death of a toddler at a New York nursery, after fentanyl was found hidden in the floor and stored on mats used by children for sleeping.
Renny Antonio Parra Paredes, 38, was charged on Monday with narcotics distribution resulting in death, after Nicholas Dominci, aged one, was found dead last Friday.
Paredes’s arrest comes ten days after authorities discovered four young children showing signs of opioid exposure at a Bronx day care centre.
Federal prosecutors said Paredes, who also went by “El Gallo”, played an “instrumental role” in selling large quantities of fentanyl and other drugs that were packaged and stored inside the nursery.
“Today’s arrest is one more step toward obtaining justice for the child-victims of this heinous offense and their families,” Manhattan US Attorney Damien Williams said in a statement.
The operator of the nursery, Grei Mendez, and a tenant of the apartment, Carlisto Acevedeo Brito, were charged with murder of “depraved indifference” last week. Both were ordered to be held without bail.
Police continued to search for Mendez’s husband, who was seen leaving the Bronx apartment carrying two full shopping bags minutes after Mendez warned him about the unresponsive children.
At a court hearing last week, an attorney for Mendez said his client had panicked after finding the children in her care were not waking up from their naps, but argued that the drug dealing allegations were “about Ms Mendez’s husband, not her.”
A search of the Bronx nursery revealed a kilogram of fentanyl atop kids’ play mats in a closet and a stash of drug paraphernalia hidden inside the floor where children played, including glassine envelopes bearing a “Red Dawn” stamp, according to court documents.
That same stamp was allegedly found in the apartment where Paredes was staying, along with a cache of other drug supplies, the court filings indicated.
DEA Special Agent in Charge Frank A. Tarentino III said: “Traffickers often hide contraband in inconspicuous or unsuspecting locations with no regard for the safety of others.
“In this case, the daycare’s floorboards were used as concealment, putting children’s lives at risk who innocently sat on the floor to play.”
Cell phone location data suggested Paredes made regular stops at the nursery, while text messages show a phone number labeled “El Gallo” in regular communication with Brito about the operation, according to the filings.
In one message sent to Brito, “El Gallo” allegedly warned that if Mendez’s husband was “going to take the garbage out, the police are out there on the side.” In another, “El Gallo” says he’s left Brito “una torta”, a Spanish word that investigators said is used to refer to a kilogram of narcotics.
