New photos show husband of day care owner wanted after baby's death
KINGSBRIDGE, Bronx (WABC) -- A third person was arrested over the weekend in connection with the day care drug operation that resulted in the death of a 1-year-old boy.
Renny Antonio Parra Paredes was taken into custody Saturday and appeared in federal court in Lower Manhattan on Monday afternoon.
Paredes is facing federal charges of conspiracy to distribute narcotics and was held without bail. It appears he was doing business with the suspects at the day care, authorities said.
After Paredes was arrested, police searched an apartment where he had been staying with his aunt. They found a bag that had cardboard boxes filled with glassine envelops stamped with the words "Red Dawn."
Federal authorities last week promised to hold accountable anyone linked to the Morris Avenue day care.
Nicholas Dominici
Authorities continue to search for the fugitive husband of day care owner Grei Mendez, including considering the possibility he may have made it out of the country to the Dominican Republic.
Police are still searching for the day care owner's husband, who is seen in pictures from the criminal complaint.
New York City detectives were executing a search warrant on the Bronx apartment last week when they found the narcotics, including a large quantity of fentanyl, and other paraphernalia concealed by plywood and tile flooring. Photos shared by police show bags full of powder inside the "trap floor," a few steps away from a shelf of children's toys.
The grim discovery came nearly a week after four young children attending the day care in the Bronx apartment were treated for opioid poisoning. One of the victims, 1-year-old Nicholas Dominici, is believed to have died from the exposure.
The day care center operator, Mendez, and a tenant of the building, Carlisto Acevedo Brito, were charged with murder of "depraved indifference" in Dominici's death.
Grei Mendez, the day care owner, and Carlisto Acevedo Brito
Prior to finding drugs beneath the trap door, police had already announced the discovery of a kilogram of fentanyl that was stored near mats that children used for sleeping, along with multiple devices used by traffickers for mixing drugs and pressing it into bricks.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
RELATED | Investigators find trap door at Bronx day care after deadly fentanyl exposure
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