A former day care owner and her husband were sentenced to 25 years to life in prison after being found guilty for a toddler’s death from fentanyl exposure in 2023.
Grei Mendez, 38, and Felix Herrera Garcia, 37, were sentenced on Wednesday for Nicholas Dominici’s murder via fentanyl overdose.
It happened on September 15, 2023, and the pair was convicted guilty of second-degree murder by a jury in November.
The 22-month-old was one of four babies exposed to the drugs at a home day care that disguised a narcotics business.
“A beautiful little boy died and three children aged eight months to two years became seriously ill from fentanyl poisoning,” District Attorney Darcel Clark said. “These babies were shields to protect a narcotics operation. Grei Mendez and her husband, Felix Herrera Garcia showed such depravity that they hid fentanyl under the floor where the children took naps. Little Nicholas paid with his life for their greed; now Mendez and Garcia will spend the rest of their days in prison.”
Dominici’s parents delivered heartbreaking victim impact statements in court. They held a giant portrait of their son.
Zolia Dominici, the victim’s mother, told the court that the couple should never be released from jail. And we battle; we pray every day to wake up and have the strength to stand in that court; it is not easy,” said the victim’s father, Otoniel Feliz.
The parents detailed the day their kid died. I see my heart bleeding out his mouth; the doctors did everything they could to revive him, but it was too late; he had been dead for a time,” Dominici explained.
Mendez and Garcia are currently serving 45-year federal prison sentences following their convictions for narcotics trafficking, which resulted in Nicholas’ murder.
The state prison sentence will run concurrently with the federal sentence. “It is a measure of justice because they are now totally accountable, whether for drug charges in the federal system or murder charges in the state system,” Clark stated.
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