The search for the fugitive husband of Bronx daycare owner accused of dealing drugs out of the daycare center has expanded to the Dominican Republic.
According to federal law enforcement sources, the search for daycare owner Grei Mendez De Ventura’s husband began after her arrest earlier this month, following the death of 1-year-old Nicholas Dominici, the New York Post reports.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, De Ventura, 36, and her tenant, Carlisto Acevedo Brito, 41, are facing numerous felony counts following the tot’s death. NYPD Chief of Detectives Joe Kenny said that police “discovered a kilogram of fentanyl in an area that was used to give the children naps” inside the daycare, which was an apartment that Ventura turned into a daycare.
Three other children — an 8-month-old girl and two 2-year-old boys — were hospitalized after first responders used Narcan to save their lives; Nicholas, however, passed away from opioid exposure that police say happened at the hands of the defendants.
According to police sources, De Ventura wasted time that possibly could have saved Nicholas’ life by making three phone calls after the children were exposed to fentanyl.
“She wasted precious minutes, worrying about herself and the drug dealers. When she should’ve been most concerned about saving these innocent babies’ lives,” a law enforcement source told the New York Post.
Security footage captured De Ventura’s husband arriving at the daycare through a back entrance prior to first responders showing up. He stayed inside for a few minutes before exiting with a large bag. Law enforcement believes the bag was big enough to transport multiple kilos of illegal drugs.
The unnamed husband is said to be the mastermind behind the illegal drug operations.
Meanwhile, both Brito and Ventura are facing murder, manslaughter, assault, drug possession and child endangerment charges.
They’re also facing federal conspiracy charges, as is Renny “The Rooster” Paredes, who was arrested this week and charged alongside them. The US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York said that investigators found more drugs at Paredes’s apartment, along with glassine bags stamped with “RED DAWN” and the stamp that put the mark on the bags. Similar bags, with the same stamp, were found at the daycare.
The New York Times reports that De Ventura had been renting a room to her co-defendant at the daycare apartment, for $200 a week. Her attorney, Andres Aranda, argued that she didn’t know that drugs were in the apartment and that her only crime is “renting a room.”
De Ventura is scheduled to return to court Thursday, and Brito will appear Friday, the Bronx District Attorney’s Office told the Post.
Check back for updates.
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[Feature Photo: Nicholas Dominici/Handout]
