A third person has been arrested and charged in connection with the death of a 1-year-old boy at a Bronx day care center. Federal prosecutors have revealed that the child was exposed to the highly potent drug fentanyl, which was stored under a trap floor in a room where children played and slept. The newly identified suspect, Renny Antonio Parra Paredes, has been charged with conspiracy to distribute narcotics resulting in death. Law enforcement officials are still searching for the husband of one of the arrested co-conspirators, who was seen on surveillance fleeing the day care center after the overdoses with bags believed to contain fentanyl.
Renny Antonio Parra Paredes, 38, was arrested in an apartment in the Bronx and allegedly conspired to distribute fentanyl at the day care center. Along with his co-conspirators, Grei Mendez and Carlisto Acevedo Brito, Paredes stored large quantities of the drugs at the center, including a kilo of fentanyl on children’s playmats. The drugs and materials for packaging were kept in hidden compartments known as “traps” within the room where the children played and slept. Investigators were able to track the suspects through phone calls and text messages, leading them to Paredes’ arrest, where tools and more drugs were found in his possession.
Investigators believe that the suspects were mid-level drug distributors responsible for cutting fentanyl with other substances, such as baby powder. DEA Special Agent in Charge Frank A. Tarentino III has stated that Paredes played an instrumental role in the conspiracy, leading to the death of Nicholas, the 1-year-old victim, and the exposure of three other children to the drug. The illicit drugs were concealed under the day care center’s floorboards, endangering the lives of innocent children who played on the floor. If convicted, Paredes faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years and a maximum sentence of life in prison.