4-Year-Old Boy Dies After Being Found Near Fentanyl at Brooklyn Homeless Shelter

New York|4-Year-Old Boy Dies After Being Found Near Fentanyl at Brooklyn Shelter

A 4-year-old boy died on Tuesday after he was found near fentanyl in a Brooklyn homeless shelter, according to a senior law enforcement official.

The police responded to a 911 call on Tuesday morning at the shelter where the boy was found, on Glenwood Road in the East Flatbush neighborhood, the official said. Emergency medical workers treated the boy with Narcan, an overdose-reversing medication, according to the official. The child was then taken to a nearby hospital in critical condition and was later pronounced dead, the police said.

No arrests have been made, the official said, and the authorities are investigating whether drugs played a role in the child’s death.

The New York City medical examiner’s office did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday. The boy’s name has yet to be released.

Children exposed to drugs are at higher risk of overdose than adults because of their smaller bodies. The death at the shelter came one day after Grei Mendez, the owner of a day care in the Bronx, was sentenced to 45 years in prison in the fentanyl death of a 1-year-old in 2023. Three other toddlers in Ms. Mendez’s care were sickened by the opioid. Last summer, a 4-month-old died elsewhere in the Bronx from acute cocaine intoxication.

The 4-year-old in Brooklyn was found at a facility run by Win, the largest provider of family shelters and supportive housing in the city. A spokeswoman for the organization said that it was “devastated by the tragic death of this innocent child” and that it was working closely with the police in their investigation.