The immigrant owner of the Bronx day care where a one-year-old died of fentanyl poisoning last week reportedly duped her ex-husband into a green-card marriage so she could gain entry into the United States.
Arrested this past Tuesday, 36-year-old Grei Mendez De Ventura was reportedly able to relocate from the Dominican Republic to the Big Apple thanks to the arrangement made nine years ago with a man relatives said she met through a mutual friend.
Speaking to The New York Post Friday, they claimed Mendez De Ventura – then just Mendez – went on to marry their loved one under false pretenses, before turning tail to live a life of debauchery prior to their divorce just two years later.
During that span, the man’s sister claimed, Mendez De Ventura ‘gave a very false impression’ of her true intentions with her brother, before remarrying and starting up the daycare with her new husband – who is still being sought by cops.
Cops this week said he was likely the ‘ring leader’ in the covert drug operation unmasked at the Kingsbridge facility this past Tuesday, where one-year-old Nicholas Feliz Dominici died days before after inhaling trace amounts of the deadly drug.
Arrested this past Tuesday, 36-year-old Grei Mendez De Ventura was reportedly able to relocate from the Dominican Republic to the Big Apple thanks to the arrangement – made nine years ago with a man relatives said she met through a mutual friend
During that span, the man’s sister claimed in an interview, Mendez De Ventura ‘gave a very false impression’ of her true intentions with her brother, before remarrying and starting up the daycare with her new husband – who is still being sought by cops
Cops this week said he was likely the ‘ring leader’ in the covert drug operation unmasked at the Kingsbridge facility this past Tuesday, where one-year-old Nicholas Feliz Dominici (seen here) died days before after inhaling trace amounts of the deadly drug
In the Post report, the father of Mendez De Ventura’s first husband, Bronx resident Juan Ventura, called the murder suspect ‘a very, very bad person’ – while asking not to be identified.
Other family members, like Ventura’s also unnamed sister, lamented how the woman – who is now facing federal murder charges – supposedly duped her brother with plans of marriage before leading a life consisting chiefly of clubbing and hookah.
Speaking to the paper, she claimed Mendez De Ventura put her family ‘through hell’.
‘She gave a very false impression to my brother that she wanted to be married, so he brought her over from the DR for marriage,’ she said.
‘But when she got here, she just wanted to smoke hookah [and] to drink a lot.
‘My brother, he’s not like that,’ she said, speaking to the paper from the family’s apartment in Fort George.
‘She wasn’t interested in the marriage for him, she just wanted to come to America,’ she further claimed, stating the pair had first become acquainted through an unnamed third party.
‘She didn’t seem like she was interested in my brother at all when she got to America.’
After couple years of this sordid arrangement – during which Mendez De Ventura reportedly only visited the family’s home twice – she said ‘[the couple] ended up getting divorced because of the terribleness of it all.’
‘She didn’t care to get to know her husband’s family’ she stated.
‘He never wanted to be out and she just wanted to go out to clubs, get promiscuous.’
The man’s father aired similar sentiments to the paper, claiming that even from his limited interactions with the suspect, he could tell she was ‘a very, very bad person’ not right for his son.
Citing hard-partying behavior already detailed by his daughter, the dad remarked: ‘My son, who has an education, isn’t into any of that.’
After the couple ‘thankfully’ divorced after a couple of years, according to the Post report, the Ventura family cut ties with the Dominican national – and said they hadn’t heard heard her name until this past week when reports of the September 15 horror at Divino Nino Daycare first surfaced.
Speaking to The New York Post Friday, relatives recalled how Mendez De Ventura – seen here being walked out of the 52nd precinct after her arrest – went on to marry their loved one under false pretenses, before turning to live a life of debauchery prior to their divorce just years later
the father of Mendez De Ventura’s first husband, Bronx resident Juan Ventura, called the murder suspect ‘a very, very bad person’. Other family members, like Ventura’s also unnamed sister, lamented how the woman duped her brother before leading a life of debauchery
After the couple ‘thankfully’ divorced after a couple of years, according to the Post report, the Ventura family cut ties with the Dominican national – and said they hadn’t heard heard her name until last week when reports of the September 15 horror at Divino Nino Daycare surfaced
It comes days after drugs have been found at a Bronx day care where a one-year-old boy died of fentanyl poisoning last week – under a hidden trap door near where where the babies would regularly lay down to sleep
The discovery comes five days after cops unmasked Divino Nino Daycare in Kingsbridge as a secret drug mill, following a one-year-old’s inhalation of the deadly opioid. It was not clear what substances aside from fentanyl were uncovered during the Wednesday bust
Earlier, cops found a kilogram of fentanyl was stashed on top of play mats at a Bronx daycare center which resulted in the death of a one-year-old boy
De Ventura, 36, and her alleged accomplice Carlisto Acevedo Brito, 41, have been hit with federal charges. Prosecutors would later claim De Ventura and her husband’s cousin – who was renting the apartment’s downstairs – ‘used the day care center front to cloak’ the unassuming facility’s true intent: the mass production of fentanyl to later be sold for a profit.
Speaking to the Post, the family said that they were not only disgusted by the senseless circumstances surrounding the case, but by the name of Mendez De Ventura’s facility – a reference to Jesus Christ.
Revealing Ventura ‘has been in counseling because of all the damage [Mendez De Ventura] did to him,’ his sister said the family finds the name offensive, and an insult to the late victim’s name.
‘We find it offensive that the name of the actual place is Divino Nino because that’s baby Jesus, and we really believe very much in baby Jesus,’ she said
‘And for a child to die there, for me, that’s really triggering.’
The paper was not able to secure a comment from Ventura, who the family said has since remarried and has a son of his own.
The interview comes just a few days after local cops and federal investigators uncovered a trove of drugs hidden at the facility, as well as several pill presses and a brick of fentanyl kept in secret compartments just feet away from where the kids laid their heads.
Cops said they had found enough highly potent fentanyl to kill 500,000 people.
The NYPD shared a statement Thursday afternoon that included photos of the secret stash, as both Mendez De Ventura and her accomplice – her husband’s 41-year-old cousin who was renting the downstairs of the Morris Avenue apartment where the daycare is set – face potential life sentences for their alleged part in the scheme.
The statement revealed cops made the find during after their initial search of the facility, following the death and three hospitalizations.
‘As part of an ongoing overdose fatality investigation in a Bronx daycare center on 9/15/23, a search warrant was conducted by @NYPDDetectives,’ the tweet from the department read.
‘A large quantity of Fentanyl, other narcotics, & drug paraphernalia was recovered in a trap floor in the play area at the daycare center.’
Cops did not specify what other types of illicit items were uncovered during the bust, but photos show several bags packed with several powderlike substances, some distinctly different from a package of fentanyl already seized days before.
That find came in the form of a kilogram sized brick, found to be fentanyl, located on top of children’s playmats earlier in the week, as well as a ‘kilo press’ used to run the secret drug mill, a federal complaint associated with the ongoing case alleges.
Prosecutors would later claim De Ventura and her husband’s cousin ‘used the day care center front to cloak’ the unassuming facility’s true intent – the mass production of fentanyl to later be sold for a profit.
The complaint further alleges the drug duo would cut up the drugs to be pressed near the area where the children nap, likely leading to the unforeseen overdoses.
Just 2 milligrams of the stuff – which, for reference is similar in appearance to 10 to 15 grains of table salt – is considered lethal.
Pictured: Nicholas Feliz-Dominici, 1, died on Friday after ingesting fentanyl at a Bronx day care
A ‘kilo press’, which is typically used to recompress drugs in powder form was discovered and two other presses were found in the day care center
Law enforcement sources believe that the basement under the day care where Brito lived was actually a front for drugs
Sources familiar with the incident – which has earned national attention – told publications like the New York Post and PIX11 how De Ventura reportedly stood on the sidelines as her cohort cut the opioids before their alleged scheme came falling apart Friday, when some particles kicked into the air are believed to have been breathed in by the four youths.
That day, fed claims that Mendez called her husband, who is still being sought by police, two times before dialing 911 to report the overdoses.
The court documents also claimed she deleted more than 21,000 text messages from an encrypted phone app as police moved in on her location.
Authorities found a kilogram block of fentanyl in the same space the children occupied, the federal complaint stated.
‘There, despite the daily presence of children, including infants, the defendants maintained large quantities of fentanyl, including a kilogram of fentanyl stored on top of children’s playmats,’ an affidavit signed by Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent Kyle Harrell said.
While Brito’s room, which he rented for $200 a week, had equipment which pointed to a large-scale drug operation, according to police.
A ‘kilo press’, which is typically used to recompress drugs in powder form was discovered and two other presses were found in the day care center.
They are ‘commonly used by narcotics traffickers at ‘mills’ or other locations where narcotic drugs are broken down, combined with fillers or other narcotics, and portioned for sale,’ according to the affidavit.
A small memorial was seen placed at the door of a Bronx day care center Friday, just after the death was announced
‘There, despite the daily presence of children, including infants, the defendants maintained large quantities of fentanyl, including a kilogram of fentanyl stored on top of children’s playmats,’ an affidavit signed by an Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent said
The pair had initially been arrested on state charges on Sunday night, which included murder, manslaughter and assault, and held without bail
Detectives said they had also recovered video of both the husband and other people fleeing the day care with bags of unknown contents in the initial confusion.
On Friday, before police arrived at the Morris Avenue apartment, De Ventura had called several people, including her husband, before calling 911 to get help for the children.
Detectives said they had also recovered video of both the husband and other people fleeing the day care with bags of unknown contents in the initial confusion.
De Ventura and Brito stored large quantities of fentanyl ‘despite the daily presence of children, including infants,’ the criminal complaint said.
The pair had initially been arrested on state charges on Sunday night, which included murder, manslaughter and assault, and held without bail.
But they are now in federal custody and face up to life in prison if they are convicted.
Damian Williams, US Attorney for Southern District of New York, said the case ‘shocked the conscience of the city’ in a press conference on Tuesday.
A third suspect is still being sought. Police have launched a manhunt for De Ventura’s husband, who is believed to be the ‘ring leader’ in the drug operation, officials said.
De Ventura’s attorney claimed she was unaware drugs were being stored in her day care by Brito.
Mayor Eric Adams expressed his sympathy Saturday to the child’s mourning parents, as the case continues to garner national attention
The child’s parents, Otoniel Samboy and Zoila Dominici Sena, are seen here in a photo from their social media. They have since started a fundraiser on GoFundMe to help with a funeral
She opened the Bronx day care earlier this year, and on September 6 passed a surprise inspection.
Divino Nino Daycare was registered under the city’s Department of Children and Family Service since it was considered a home-based business.
The day care was registered to care for up to 8 children, between 6 weeks to 12 years old, records show.
Feliz Dominici’s grief-stricken parents Zoila Dominici and Otoniel Feliz said the day care was recommended by Kingsbridge Heights Community Center.
The heartbroken couple, who are parents to four other children, were trying to come to terms with the unexpected and tragic death of their youngest child.
The boy’s grief-stricken mother told CBS News in Spanish: ‘Look at what happened. If I had known, I wouldn’t have taken him.’
NYPD Chief of Detectives Joe Kenny said on Monday that police discovered ‘a kilogram of fentanyl in an area that was used to give the children naps.’
He further explained, the fentanyl was ‘laying underneath a mat where children had been sleeping earlier.’
US Attorney for the Southern District, Damian Williams spoke at Monday’s announcement of the new federal charges
Frank A. Tarentino III (pictured) Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New York Division covering the State of New York spoke at a press conference on Monday about fentanyl and the babies that were exposed to the deadly chemical at a Bronx day care
According to Kenny, ‘one grain, two grains of fentanyl can take down a grown man so even the residue itself for a small child, would cause the death.’
According to reports, there were no previous complaints made against Divino Nino Daycare.
But, some neighbors had their concerns about what was taking place behind the doors of the apartment. One longtime neighbor said she never saw any children – arriving or leaving- the residence.
‘It was a day care for a year with no children. For one year, she had a day care with no children but people go in. But no babies?,’ she told The New York Post.
She also revealed De Ventura would not allow her own child to stay in the apartment where other children were being cared for.
‘A day care with no children and men coming in and out. Yes, we knew something. We knew something, something was not good happening there.’
‘We all said, ‘Drogas.’ How could you not know?’
She alleged that De Ventura’s day care started getting busier two months ago when she started getting some children, including a baby two months ago, and then two more children a few weeks before the tragedy.
Mayor Eric Adams, meanwhile, expressed his sympathy Saturday to the child’s mourning parents, as the case continues to garner national attention.
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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk