One baby boy has died, another baby boy is critical, and two other babies are in a stable condition following an medical emergency involving the opioid, fentanyl, which took place at a daycare center in Kingsbridge Heights on Friday, Sept. 15. The NYPD has since launched a criminal investigation into the incident and Mayor Eric Adams has also vowed to get to the bottom of the matter.

 

Police said they were alerted to the situation at 2.41 p.m. on Friday when officers responded to a 911 call regarding multiple aided children inside 2707 Morris Avenue, the location of Divino Niño [Divine Child] Daycare Center.

 

“Upon arrival, we discovered a one-year-old male, a 2-year-old male, and an 8-month-old female inside of the location,” a police spokesperson said. “EMS responded, and removed all the aided individuals to Montefiore Medical Center, where the one-year-old male was pronounced deceased.”

 

The spokesperson went on to say that the 2-year-old baby boy is currently listed in critical condition, while the 8-month-old baby girl is listed in stable condition. He said a fourth aided, 2-year-old baby boy had been already removed by private means to Bronx Care Health System, where he was listed in stable condition.

 

“The investigation remains ongoing,” the spokesperson said. “The identity of the deceased is being withheld pending proper family notification,” he added.

Asked if it was an employee at the daycare center who had contacted the emergency services, the police spokesperson said it was.

 

Meanwhile, an EMS spokesperson said EMS were alerted at 2.42 p.m. to an emergency at 2707 Morris Avenue in The Bronx for a report of a cardiac arrest. The spokesperson said three pediatric patients were transported to Montefiore Hospital [two by EMS, and one by private means], two of them in critical condition, and said one was pronounced deceased at the hospital and a second remains critical.

 

The spokesperson said that an additional patient was taken by other means to Bronx Lebanon Hospital, that EMS had no information on that patient, and that police and fire units at the scene were investigating further.

 

Representatives from the Office of the City’s medical examiner were seen at the scene of the incident, and Morris Avenue was blocked to vehicular traffic for about five blocks south of 192nd Street.

 

Police had also cordoned off the area around the daycare center and several police vehicles and NYPD detectives were still at the scene late on Friday night carrying out an investigation, several hours after the incident unfolded.

 

We asked both the police and EMS/FDNY if they could confirm the reason for the medical emergency, and why at least one of the babies was seemingly not moving, as described by one witness [see below]. An official from EMS/FDNY initially said we would have to ask the NYPD. “We investigated and looked to see if there were any hazardous materials e.g. carbon monoxide and we cleared it,” the spokesperson said. “There was no carbon monoxide present.”

 

When asked if the NYPD could confirm some media reports that the incident was fentanyl-related, the NYPD spokesperson said the matter was still under investigation and that he couldn’t say.

Meanwhile, the earlier referenced female witness, a young resident of the neighborhood, told Norwood News the building in question was known to have had mold inside on the walls. She said the daycare center owner, who she estimated was in her late thirties, was “very family-oriented.” She continued, “I never even seen her smoking. She’s calm.” Asked if she knew how many children attended the center, the neighbor said, “I don’t know. I know it was a full house today.”

 

We asked the neighbor if she had been present when the ambulances arrived and she confirmed she had been. “I thought it was her [the owner’s] kid ’cause she was, like, screaming, literally. We all came outside thinking something was happening. There must have been an ambulance truck there.. you know like the ones that pick up the elderly? They got lucky, right?” she said. “They gave the first child CPR. While she was coming out with one of the babies, I don’t know which one, she was like, ‘Help, help!'”

 

The neighbor paused briefly to fight back tears, adding that the incident had made her emotional and said it had been very difficult to witness. She continued, “The ambulance probably saved the first baby but that baby was very lifeless and then she [the owner] came out with another baby and that baby was good. That was one of the twin babies. I guess it was the boy and the baby was like even smiling and everything.”

 

The neighbor then said that there were so many ambulances and so much traffic on the street, she fears maybe they may have been delayed getting to the hospital. She added, “I feel so devastated for the lady because she doesn’t deserve that.” Asked if the center was open a long time, she said she wasn’t sure exactly and added, “I never even seen that lady with a beer in her hand – nothin’ so there’s no way that what they’re saying is true.”

 

Asked what people were saying, the neighbor said, “I don’t know, but they’re saying that the baby passed away because of drugs or something. I don’t know. I don’t believe that. I believe that the building is poisoned because my friend lives in the basement. Her walls have mold. That building…they have a lot of complaints about that. So, that’s what we thought at first because whoever you speak to, they’re going to say there’s no way that she did that. There’s no way.”

Asked what the center was like inside, the neighbor said it was “pretty decent and big” and comprised two rooms. “I don’t understand how that happened,” she continued. “She’s usually very attentive, you know? For her to even catch that, you can even see that she’s very attentive. She did not cause no harm, or at least she did not cause me no harm. No, no, there’s no way! I don’t believe what they’re saying. Why would she run out of the apartment? I thought it was her kid. Why wouldn’t she just have left the baby sleeping or something?”

 

The neighbor went on to say that the owner’s husband worked and had a truck and that as far as she knew, they had two small children and that it hadn’t been the owner’s children who had been impacted by the incident.

 

The neighbor said that another female neighbor who knows the center’s owner [well] had then gone inside, and they both started to bring the other babies out. “Everyone was trying to help,” the neighbor said. “I never seen this community so put together like, and then there was traffic here and that could probably be a cause too…”

 

Asked if she knew any of the parents whose kids were left at the center, the neighbor said, “I know one of the parents of the twins. She was definitely devastated. She was on her way back and she ran towards her child, I guess. I just seen I don’t know which baby.. I don’t know if it was the twin but the baby looked like a doll. Like, it was just lifeless.”

Speaking in Spanish, another female resident told Norwood News regarding the owner of the daycare center, “She’s a person who is very decent and very honest. I don’t know what happened.” She said she referred to her as “Prima” [Cousin] as a term of affection and that they often interacted together at barbecues during the summer. “I’m very surprised at what happened because she is a very good person,” she said. “It’s unbelievable.”

 

Asked how many children attended the daycare center, the resident said she didn’t know. “I was never in her house,” she said. “We just interacted sometimes here outside at the weekend and in the evenings. I hope everything works out for her. I was not expecting [this]. She even has a 2-year-old baby, herself.” The neighbor added that the owner also had a husband and nephews, in addition to her children.

 

Asked about the daycare center itself and if it was privately run in the woman’s home, the neighbor, who declined to be identified, said yes, it was run out of the woman’s home on the first floor. Asked if there were other employees, she said, “I think so.”

 

We later spoke to a young Hispanic couple who recently moved into the neighborhood, who are parents, and who have children in a daycare facility but not at Divino Niño Daycare Center. We asked how they felt after hearing about the incident. Speaking in Spanish, they said, “It’s very frightening.. and makes us think more about where we’re leaving our kids. It’s very sad what happened. It’s a pity.”

 

A press conference with the mayor, Police Commissioner Edward Caban, NYC Health Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan, and others was later held at Montefiore Medical Center in Norwood [which also runs a Children’s Hospital] in the early hours of Saturday morning.

In reference to the tragedy, Caban said, in part, “Our children are a gift from God in this world. They are innocent. We must always protect them. As a father, I can tell you, my kids are my heart, and my heart is heavy this evening.” He said the NYPD didn’t yet know how exactly the four children became ill and said that his chief detectives would get those answers. “We should not be here. These children did not deserve this so please pray for them and their families,” he said.

 

NYPD Chief Detective Joe Kenny then provided an overview of how the incident had unfolded saying cops had been alerted to three unconscious children at the daycare center at 2.43 p.m. on Friday, two 2-year-old boys and one 8-month-old girl. “All three children were found unresponsive and demonstrating symptoms of opioid exposure,” he said. [When we queried the victim’s ages with the NYPD, since they differed from the original report, it was later clarified that the victims brought to Montefiore comprised a 1-year-old boy, a 2-year-old boy, and an 8-month-old girl.]

 

“Narcan was administered to all three of these children in an attempt to save their lives,” Kenny added. He said that a 2-year-old baby boy [later clarified as a 1-year-old baby boy by the NYPD] had died at Montefiore Hospital at 3.29 p.m. on Friday. The NYPD has since identified the victim as Nicholas Dominici of West Kingsbridge Road in The Bronx.

 

Kenny then said that cops learned that another baby boy, 2, had earlier been removed from the same daycare center at 12.15 p.m. on Friday. “Once home, the child’s mother noticed that the kid was acting lethargic and unresponsive,” Kenny said. “He was brought to Bronx Care Hospital, where he was administered Narcan, and his life was saved. The NYPD administered a search warrant at this daycare center, where we discovered a kilo press,” he added.

 

The NYPD chief detective explained that a kilo press was used by drug dealers when packaging large quantities of drugs. “This is an active criminal investigation,” Kenny said. He went on to say that the daycare center in question is a licensed daycare center in the State of New York, and was last inspected on Sept. 9 this year and no violations were observed. He reiterated that the investigation was ongoing.

Vasan later said, “As the City’s doctor and as the father of three small kids, as a New Yorker, my heart’s breaking tonight for this family who’ve lost their precious one-year-old son.”

 

He said his reason for attending the press conference was to share what City officials knew about the site where the incident happened, confirming that the daycare center was a home-based childcare center which falls under the authority of NYS Office of Children and Family Care Services. He explained that NYC Department of Health & Mental Hygiene (DOH) conduct inspections on behalf of the State, as referenced by the NYPD.

 

He said the center had opened in January 2023 and had been inspected twice by DOH prior to its opening to obtain its license and again, as a “surprise” visit in September. Regarding fentanyl, Vasan explained that as part of the Adams administration’s mental health plan, it had prioritized the overdose crisis because, he said, they knew it was affecting everyone. “Tonight, that’s been brought home to bear in this challenge we face,” he said.

 

The commissioner continued, in part, saying, “A small child, not someone we would think would be at risk of interacting with opioids has come into contact with a powerful substance which can, through either inhalation, ingestion or in touching of the skin, intoxicate the recipient. We don’t know what happened in this case. What it tells us is that the overdose crisis affects all of us, which is why it’s an all-hands-on-deck moment. Once again, our hearts go out to the family for their loss.”

A somber Adams concluded, saying in reference to the investigation, “We are going to find out the cause of this incident.” He added, “To the families, this is clearly an impact on us all. To lose a child, and just listen to the ages of these children, and speaking to the mom and dad a few moments ago and seeing the pain that they’re experiencing, is something that all of us as New Yorkers, are experiencing as parents.”

 

He said the opioid crisis was real and a wake-up call for individuals who have opioids in their homes. “The mere contact is deadly for an adult and is extremely deadly for a child,” he said. To those who harbor opioids in their homes, the mayor said, “This can have an impact on your families, and an impact on your children.”

 

Thanking the quick response by the NYPD, he added, “Our hearts break for these families that are involved. We will lift them up in prayer and we will get to the bottom of this.”

 

Read our other stories on the unfolding of this tragedy here, here, here, here, here, and here.

 

Read our previous stories on Narcan kit training here and here.

 

NYC Department of Health & Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) provides training and regularly updated information on how to obtain and administer naloxone (Narcan). Click here for more information.

 

A link to a legitimate GoFundMe page, set up by Nicholas’ parents to help with their financial expenses in the wake of the tragedy, can be found in another story here.

 

*David Greene contributed to this story.

 

Editor’s Note: A previous version of this story included information shared by the NYPD regarding the ownership structure of the daycare center which has since been disputed and has therefore been removed.