NYC toddler's day care death proof of enduring opioid crisis

THE BRONX, N.Y. (PIX11) -- When FDNY ambulances responded to an emergency at the Bronx's Divino Nino Day Care on Sept. 14, an early assumption was that the four unconscious children had possibly been overcome by carbon monoxide poisoning.  

But when some of the tiny victims responded to doses of Narcan, the anti-opioid antidote, it became clear they had likely suffered fentanyl poisoning, instead. One of the toddlers, 21-month-old Nicholas Dominici, was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. Drug Enforcement Administration agents and NYPD narcotics detectives later found trap doors under the floor where the children played and napped that were filled with narcotics. The day care owner, her husband, and a tenant were arrested for drug-related homicide.

Dominici's heartbreaking death was yet another indicator that New York City — and the nation — continue to feel the ramifications of an enduring opioid crisis, blamed for more than 70% of the 110,684 U.S. drug fatalities in 2022. The numbers will likely go up this year again.

The Food and Drug Administration, DEA, and the White House also issued advisories about an animal tranquilizer, xylazine, that was being mixed with fentanyl and other drugs in the nation's illicit "street drug" supply. Xylazine is often called "tranq." 

Aside from increasing the chance of fatal overdoses when mixed with fentanyl or heroin, the animal sedative also caused sores to appear on different parts of the body, sometimes leading to amputation.

PIX11 News saw the horrors of tranq use up close when we were the first New York TV station to visit nearby Philadelphia, where tranq was mixed into 90% of the drug supply. PIX11 News learned it was also connected to 20% of fatal overdoses in New York City.

As 2023 moved to a close,  Frank Tarentino, special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration in New York, told PIX11 News pharmacy burglaries and robberies were up 620% in the state in the last two years.  Thieves were seeking opioids, methamphetamine, and certain types of antihistamines. The DEA issued an alert in December 2023 saying the pharmacy burglaries were a national problem, with some of the ingredients used to create a drug cocktail known as "purple drank" or "lean."