On Wednesday, officials revealed that Dax Tejera, a producer for ABC News, had died from asphyxiation due to obstruction of his airway from food bolus and acute alcohol intoxication.
Tejera, the Executive Producer of ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” was 37 when he suddenly passed away on December 23rd.
Initially, ABC News president Kim Goodwin reported that Tejera had died of a heart attack. However his wife, Veronica, was arrested later that day for leaving their young children alone in a hotel room while the couple went to dinner with friends at Bobby Van’s 230Park in Midtown.
Veronica defended her actions, claiming that her parents and a friend were watching the 5-month-old and 2-year-old with camera surveillance. Sources reported that the couple had left their kids in order to go out for dinner.
An employee at the restaurant recalled that a server had noticed Tejera’s unwell state and asked if he was okay. The producer then walked out of the restaurant and collapsed outside.
Tejera had joined ABC News in 2017 and graduated with a history degree from Dartmouth College as well as the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.