1-year-old dies at New York City day care after possible fentanyl exposure
NEW YORK (WPIX) – A kilo press that packages “large quantities of drugs” was found inside a New York City day care center where four small children overdosed on Friday, leaving one of the children dead, according to the NYPD.
Joe Kenny, the NYPD Chief of Detectives, said at a press briefing that officers responded to find three of the children unresponsive inside the Divino Nino day care center in the Bronx on Friday afternoon, all “exhibiting symptoms of opioid exposure.”
Narcan was administered and revived two of them, a 2-year-old boy and an 8-month-old girl. But 1-year-old Nicholas Dominici could not be saved.
Mayor Eric Adams, who also spoke at the briefing, said he had been in contact with the mother and father who lost their baby son. It’s believed fentanyl could have been involved in the child’s fatal overdose.
“To see the pain they are experiencing is something that all of us New Yorkers are experiencing and all of us that are parents,” the Mayor said at the early Saturday press conference.
Chief Kenny said a fourth child had been removed from the day care at 12:15 p.m. Friday by his mother and brought home.
The 2-year-old boy was acting “lethargic and unresponsive,” so the mother brought him to Bronx Care, where Narcan was administered.
“His life was saved,” Chief Kenny said.
Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan noted opioids are powerful drugs driving the city’s overdose crisis.
“A small child is not someone we would think would be at risk of interaction. … It can come through inhalation, ingestion, or through touching the skin, intoxicating the recipient,” Vasan said at the briefing.
Sadly, small children have been exposed to opioids like fentanyl before, often in homes, sometimes with deadly results.
“This crisis is real,” Adams said, “and it is a real wake-up call for individuals who have opioids or fentanyl in their homes.”
The Health Commissioner said Divino Nino was a “home-based” childcare site that opened in January this year under the official authority of the New York State Office of Children and Family Services.
Vasan revealed the city’s Department of Health conducted inspections on behalf of the state, with the most recent one being a “surprise” inspection last week on September 9.
No violations were found during that visit, Vasan said.
Kenny said investigators are actively looking for the people who were utilizing the kilo press found in the day care.
“Tonight is every parent’s worst nightmare,” Police Commissioner Edward Caban added.