The following is an extended version of the story that appears in our latest print edition.

A year to the day after one-year-old Nicholas Otoniel Feliz Dominici tragically died from fentanyl poisoning at Divino Niño Daycare Center in Kingsbridge Heights on Sept. 15, 2023, the infant’s family, surrounded by friends, clergy, community members, elected officials, and members of the NYPD, gathered for an emotional street co-naming ceremony in his honor at the intersection of West Kingsbridge Road and Kingsbridge Terrace on Sunday, Sept. 15.

 

Nicholas’s parents, Otoniel Feliz Samboy and Zoila Dominici, who also have four other children who were also present, addressed those gathered with dignity and grace. The pain of losing their son still evident on their faces, the couple spoke lovingly about Nicholas and of how his death impacted not only their family, but the community and country at large, as they had done during a remembrance service held one month after Nicholas’s death on Oct. 15, 2023.

Speaking in Spanish, Feliz Samboy thanked all who came to support his family and community. “This loss destroyed everyone. If it destroyed the community, imagine how it destroyed our family. It’s been difficult for us to get up every day, for my kids, for my wife; we remember the pain we carry inside of us.”

 

The grieving dad went on to thank the various authorities who, he said have always fought to hold accountable those responsible for his son’s death. “Thank you to the police who have not let go of our hands,” he said. ‘They have always been with us in every single one of the difficult moments. Thank you, NYPD.”

He continued, ‘Thank you, Pierina Sanchez, [District 14 council member] who, in every moment, has been here, to the Bronx DA, for always providing us with your support, to the members of the federal government that always give us a call and communicate with us, for being attentive to our safety. Thank you so much, Adriano Espaillat [congressman for NY-13] for being present, to all the members of congress, for the federal, State, and local laws that have made a change in how our kids are cared for in daycare centers.”

 

The congressman, who represents parts of the West Bronx and Northern Manhattan, said he has secured $1.18 million in federal funding for the West Bronx Gun Violence Reduction Partnership, aimed at preventing violence and safeguarding the most vulnerable in West Bronx neighborhoods. “As we work to honor Nicholas’ legacy, we are united in our dedication to building a future where no parent has to face such unimaginable pain,” he said. The funds are expected to be granted in Spring 2025.

 

Sanchez, who represents District 14 where Nicholas lived and sadly died, and whose voice broke at times as she spoke, is currently expecting a baby and attended the event with her older child. “This tragedy has shaken our community and spurred action to address gaps in government oversight that failed to protect him [Nicholas],” Sanchez said, in part. “As a mother, I feel the pain of Nicholas’s parents who entrusted their child to licensed care but were let down by our systems.”

Since the tragedy, area elected officials have introduced legislative measures and budgetary initiatives to enhance safety and oversight at daycare facilities and reduce drug violence. At the City Council level, this includes support for a State bill requiring various daycare oversight measures, informing parents of their rights in daycare settings, requiring the City health department (DOH) to report on training for childcare inspectors, requiring DOH to notify public health sanitarians and to teach staff of childcare programs about overdose prevention and reversal training available to them, and establishing a childcare opioid antagonist program. The bills have been referred to the relevant committees.

 

At the State level, a package of bills, announced on Dec. 14, 2023, which develops training for childcare facility inspectors on controlled substances, educates childcare providers on overdose prevention, and increases transparency for parents with children in home-based daycare centers, has passed in the State senate but not in the assembly, according to State Sen. Gustavo Rivera (S.D. 33).

The senator suggested but could not confirm that the reason for this may have been because at the end of the State legislative session in June, there was a lot of tumult caused by the controversial, last-minute reversal of the much anticipated congestion pricing bill. Norwood News reached out to the offices of both Assemblywoman Yudelka Tapia (A.D. 86) and Assemblyman George Alvarez (A.D. 78) for more information and will share any updates we receive.

 

Referencing the various legislative measures, Sanchez said, “While nothing can ever replace Nicholas, we honor his memory today, recommitting ourselves to ensuring that all children are safe in our community. His life will not be forgotten, and this street renaming marks our collective commitment to continue fighting to prevent such tragedies from happening again.” The councilwoman led chants of “We are all Nicholas” at different intervals during the ceremony.

Also present for the co-naming were Espaillat, Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson, Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark, Rivera, State Sen. Robert Jackson (S.D. 31), Tapia and Alvarez, each of whom also addressed those gathered.

 

Deacon Wilson Martinez, Deputy Inspector Chase Maneri, commanding officer of the 52nd Precinct, NYPD Community Affairs Officer Stephen Echevarria, NYPD Community Affairs Officer Jessalyn Capo, other members of the NYPD and Chad Royer, 2nd vice chair of Bronx Community Board 7, area residents, Sirio and Heather Guerino and Tobie Buford, were also in attendance, among others.

 

The street co-naming ceremony, which preceded a memorial mass for Nicholas at Our Lady of Angels Church on nearby Webb Avenue, was organized with the support of the Consul General of the Dominican Republic.

During his remarks, Feliz Samboy went on to say that it was sad that his son died in a place where kids were supposed to be safe. “We hope that children can be safe in our community,” he continued. “We have asked for changes to the written laws but we, as a family, don’t see change. A real, resounding change that can be seen to make a difference, we don’t see it.”

 

He continued, “We need more for our community, not for my family, but for our community. Children can’t defend themselves, especially when they are alone and can’t communicate the danger they recognize in their mind. We need to do more for the safety of our kids. There still exist daycares in basements; that can’t continue.” According to State officials, around 20 daycares in Bronx County are subject to enforcement action. “All the hazards that our kids face in daycares need to be eliminated,” Feliz Samboy added.

Health officials said El Divino Niño daycare center had been inspected three times by authorities prior to opening. In a separate tragic case, a Norwood-based daycare provider was sentenced in June to 25 years in prison for sexual exploitation of a child and producing child pornography. On Sept. 27, 2023, a Manhattan daycare center was shut down after a raid and discovery of ghost guns in an unlocked room and a ghost gun 3D printing machine.

 

Three other infants, in addition to Nicholas, were also poisoned by fentanyl on the same day at the now-closed daycare center, located at 2707 Morris Avenue, but survived. At a Sept. 19, 2023 press conference, Mayor Eric Adams, who pleaded not guilty on Sept. 27 to recently announced federal bribery charges, moving to dismiss the bribery case, said, “We probably saved the lives of three of those children because of Narcan.” [Adams is presumed innocent unless and until convicted in a court of law.]

On the night Nicholas died, City Health Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan, who recently announced his upcoming resignation in January, encouraged widespread education and training on the use of naloxone (Narcan), lifesaving kits that work to reverse the effects of an overdose. The City’s health department provides such training. Read our previous stories on Narcan kit training in The Bronx here and here. The borough president previously said she disagrees with reports that the national fentanyl crisis is overblown.

 

The cost of daycare, along with safety concerns, is another issue for parents. As reported, Nicholas’s father had previously proposed including funding in the City budget to pay adult family members who care for younger family members directly because their parents don’t wish to leave their kids at a daycare.

 

Back in October 2022, the City Council expanded access to childcare and Norwood News readers shared their thoughts on the matter. In March 2022, the NYC Commission on Human Rights announced that NYC Human Rights Law (NYCHRL) employment protections would apply to all domestic workers, including those employed in a home providing childcare.

In February 2024, Congressman Ritchie Torres (NY-15), who represents much of The Bronx, stretching from the northwest to the south, co-lead the introduction of a bipartisan bill to address childcare affordability. In June, the mayor said, in part, of the City’s budget adoption that it addressed the three things that cost New Yorkers the most: housing, childcare, and health care.

 

Back at the street co-naming, Nicholas’s father went on to describe how sometimes he would see drug addicts in the neighborhood. “Just seeing the effects of drugs on them, you can only imagine what our child went through; it’s horrible,” he said. “A kid should never have to go through that.”

He continued, “I want to thank our community for giving us this corner, this street, where my son Nicholas was born. It’s an honor for us to have a street named after a member of our family, but I, as a man and a father, would have preferred the street to be named after someone in our family because of a great achievement and not because of their death.”

 

Nicholas’s father added, “Thank you for dedicating this small piece of The Bronx to my family, my son Nicholas. It’s hard for me, as a father, to be standing here, but for the honor that my son deserves, I am here instead of being home, crying and praying. I am here honoring my child.”

As reported, large quantities of fentanyl were found under the floorboards of El Divino Niño daycare center by authorities after Nicholas died. Three men, Felix Herrera Garcia, 35, Renny Antonio Parra Paredes, 38, and Carlisto Acevedo Brito, and one woman, Grei Mendez, 36, owner of the daycare center and wife of Herrera Garcia, were later arrested, and face various State and federal charges, including murder and drug trafficking. At least two of the men involved, Herrera Garcia and Parra Paredes have pleaded guilty and await sentencing in federal court.

 

One source told Norwood News Mendez’s own young children were not being cared for at the daycare. Prosecutors said that immediately prior to calling 911, Mendez called her husband twice. They said the first phone call went unanswered and the second phone call lasted just over 10 seconds. They said minutes before emergency services arrived, surveillance footage shows Herrera Garcia, empty-handed, walking swiftly from the building next door into the daycare.

They said two minutes later, he exited swiftly, carrying what appears to be two shopping bags weighted with contents out a back alley and continued on through some bushes. Norwood News contacted federal prosecutors for the status of Mendez’s and Acevedo Brito’s cases and will share any updates we receive. Mendez’s lawyer for her State case has defended the daycare operator while her other case is pending the outcome in federal court. Mendez and Acevedo Brito are deemed innocent unless and until convicted in a court of law.

 

Around two weeks after Nicholas died at El Divino Niño daycare center, six blocks away, at 2800 Heath Avenue in Kingsbridge Heights at a private residence, over 40 pounds of fentanyl were also seized and drug trafficking suspects were arrested. A spokesperson for the Office of Special Narcotics Prosecutor said the fentanyl located at Heath Avenue was unrelated to the Divino Niño daycare case. The defendant allegedly transported almost 30 pounds of fentanyl bricks in a rolling suitcase on a train, through a subway station, and on the sidewalks of The Bronx.

 

Back at the unveiling, Nicholas’s mom also addressed those gathered. Speaking in Spanish, tears welling in her eyes at times as her husband put his arms around her and rested his chin on her shoulder, she said, “I don’t know how I’ve endured the past year without my son, but I think the reason is the four kids that I have here.”

A YEAR AFTER one-year-old Nicholas Otoniel Feliz Dominici died from fentanyl poisoning at Divino Niño Daycare Center in Kingsbridge Heights on Sept. 15, 2023, the infant’s family, surrounded by friends, clergy, neighbors, elected officials and the NYPD, gathered for a street conaming ceremony in his honor at the intersection of East Kingsbridge Road and Kingsbridge Terrace in Kingsbridge Heights on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. Video by Síle Moloney

She continued, “Every day, I look at them and tell myself my kids would not feel good if I left them to be with my other child, because what I would have wanted was to be with my son in the cemetery, because I feel like it was my fault for taking him to a daycare where they didn’t take care of him.”

 

The young mother added, “I feel like it’s my fault, but I am here with my husband because I want Nicholas to save the lives of others. I want Nicholas to be an example so that other kids aren’t exposed to the things that killed my son. We are people who work hard, and I don’t know how I’ve lost so much time, but I miss him. I want to thank, Pierina, the police, for giving me so much support. Thanks for being here. Nicholas, I miss you.”