Two Suspects Charged With Murder After Child Died From Fentanyl Exposure at Bronx Day Care
BRONX, NEW YORK (September 17, 2023) – Two people were charged with murder after a 1-year-old died and three children were hospitalized from fentanyl exposure at NYC day care.
New York City police officials are saying that the incident began on Friday. Paramedics were called to Kingsbridge Heights Community Center on Morris Avenue in Fordham after getting a report of a possible opioid overdose.
The children were unresponsive when paramedics arrived. Three children were given Narcan, which is commonly used to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.
A two-year-old boy and an 8-month-old girl recovered. Sadly, a 1-year-old child died after being taken to Montefiore Hospital. The Bronx day care facility was licensed by the state of New York and was last inspected on September 9. It received no citations at the time of the inspection.
Two suspects identified as Carlisto Acevedo Brito, 41, and Grei Mendez, 36, were arrested on Saturday night. They have been charged with multiple crimes including manslaughter, assault and criminal possession of a controlled substance.
Their relationship to the daycare was not immediately clear. A full investigation remains ongoing at this time.
Liability For Injuries At New York City Day Cares
Every day millions of parents entrust their children to the care of others at day care. While most of these stays will occur without incident, many children are injured every year in a day care setting. There are many ways that children can be seriously injured or killed. According to the Centers for Disease Control, “Car crashes, suffocation, drowning, poisoning, fires, and falls are some of the most common ways children are hurt or killed. The number of children dying from injury dropped nearly 30% over the last decade.” There are many steps that day cares should take in order to prevent children from being injured.
- All day care employees should be properly vetted before they are hired.
- Day cares should be “childproofed” to the greatest extent possible. This may include securing cabinets, electrical outlets, and sharp objects.
- All staff at a day care should be trained in CPR, first aid and emergency procedures.
- All children should be consistently monitored while they are being watched over.
Depending on the facts of any case, a day care could be liable if a child in their care is injured or killed. Schools, day cares and other childcare facilities are required by law to take reasonable measures to keep children safe. The adults who run these institutions must protect kids from reasonably foreseeable sources of harm, including accidental poisoning. Every day in the United States alone, an estimated two children die after being accidentally poisoned. If day care employees are negligent and a child dies in their care, this could form the basis of a civil claim. There are a number of steps that should be taken after any day care poisoning.
- Eye witnesses should be interviewed.
- The source of the poisoning drug or agent should be determined.
- Surveillance footage should be sought.
- The safety record for the day care involved should be understood.
- An experienced personal injury attorney should be contacted.
It can be hard to know where to begin after any day care incident. To make matters worse, day cares will almost never be transparent about the source of any injury that your child might sustain. It is important for parents to know that they do have rights. The family of any child that died at a day care may be able to seek some measure of justice through a wrongful death claim. Sadly, though, day cares will typically fight hard to deny liability for any incident in their care. A personal injury attorney can examine all of the unique facts of your case and let you know what your legal options are.
Investigating New York City Day Care Accidents
We at Gersowitz Libo & Korek, P.C. extend our deepest condolences to the family of the child that died at this day care. There needs to be a thorough investigation into what took place. It is our sincere hope that justice is served in this incident and that all responsible parties are held to account. So many questions still remain unanswered.
Have you or someone that you care about been harmed at a New York City day care? Our team of personal injury attorneys are here to help in any way that we can. We care deeply that accident victims are aware of their rights and that day care owners are held to account for their negligence. Whether you just have legal questions or need a free, independent investigation into any incident we are here for you. You can reach out to us anytime at 800-529-9997.
