NEW YORK – Two of the four people charged in connection with the deadly fentanyl poisoning of a one-year-old boy at a New York day care have pleaded guilty. Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that Felix Herrera Garcia and Renny Antonio Parra Paredes pleaded guilty to several counts, including conspiracy to distribute narcotics resulting in death.
As Emily’s Hope reported in September, prosecutors say that one child died and three others were injured after being exposed to the highly powerful drug fentanyl at Divino Niño day care center in the Bronx.
“This happened because, as they admitted in court, Felix Herrera Garcia and Renny Antonio Parra Paredes operated an illegal fentanyl operation out of the center, where they processed the deadly drugs for sale. We said at the time that this case shocks the conscience of the City, and now Herrera Garcia and Parra Paredes have been brought to justice for this heinous crime,” Williams said in a statement.
Garcia, the husband of the day care owner, was arrested in Sinaloa, Mexico, a region notorious for the Sinaloa drug trafficking cartel.
In addition to Garcia and Parra Paredes, day care owner Grei Mendez De Ventura and her neighbor Carlisto Acevedo Brito are also facing charges related to the child’s death.