© Michelle Pemberton/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK
(Bronx, NY) – Felix Herrera-Garcia was sentenced to 45 years in prison for his role in the death of a toddler at a Bronx daycare due to a fentanyl overdose. Herrera-Garcia had hidden fentanyl beneath the floorboards of the daycare, Divino Niño, where 22-month-old Nicholas Dominici fatally ingested the drug in September 2023. Three other children were also exposed but survived after receiving Narcan.
Herrera-Garcia fled to Mexico following the incident but was arrested after two weeks. Before his sentencing, he expressed remorse, saying he played with the children and attempted to help two of them before fleeing. He hoped the families could one day forgive him, adding that the tragedy haunts him in nightmares.
Although prosecutors sought a life sentence, Judge Jed S. Rakoff ruled that the death, while showing extreme disregard for human life, was not premeditated murder. Herrera-Garcia’s wife and another individual, also linked to the daycare, face separate charges, including murder and drug possession.
