A bright and promising ABC Producer, Dax Tejera, recently died after choking to death while heavily intoxicated outside a Bobby Van's steakhouse in Manhattan. The incident happened after he went to eat dinner with his wife. The death occurred two days before Christmas while he was in the middle of spending the holidays with his family.
Keep reading for the details.
The 37-year-old and his wife stepped out to grab a meal and left their children alone in a hotel room. Tejera later choked to death outside the steakhouse while drunk.
Tejera had gone to New York to spend the holidays with his wife and children before passing away two days before Christmas.
Earlier on, his bosses at ABC traced his sudden death to a heart attack, but the details have now been revealed that he was drunk and choked before dying.
His wife, Veronica Tejera, was arrested on charges of child endangerment after it was confirmed that she and Dax had left their children, aged two years and five months old, in their hotel room to grab dinner.
Sources revealed that the couple was spending their holidays at the highbrow Yale Club, a few minutes away from where they had gone to get dinner.
The staff at the establishment called the police when they discovered that the couple had not returned and the children had been left alone for hours.
The New York City's Office of Chief Medical Examiner told DailyMail.com on Wednesday that he had choked on food due to intoxication. The official cause of death was "Asphyxia due to obstruction of airway by food bolus complicating acute alcohol intoxication."
ABC News President Kim Godwin first shared that the producer died from a sudden heart attack. According to him, the producer had collapsed and was rushed to Bellevue Hospital after the incident but was pronounced dead on arrival.
Sources revealed that his 33-year-old wife was in the ambulance when he was rushed to the hospital. Meanwhile, their friends went to the club to collect the children.
Veronica was arrested at 12:20 am by NYPD and charged with two counts of acting in a manner that puts a child in danger. The children were unharmed and were left with their grandmother following the mom's arrest.
She was released from police custody after 4:00 am, and she admitted it was a mistake and poor decision to leave their daughters on their own.
According to Veronica, a senior producer at Washington Post, they had two cameras trained on the children as they slept when they headed out for dinner.
Veronica has now launched a fundraiser for the late Tejera's children in the form of a 529 college account. The description on the page reads:
"Dax Tejera passed away suddenly, leaving 2-year-old Sofia and 6-month old Ella without their father. Please support the girl's education."
His friends and colleagues have led tributes following the producer's death. They described Tejera as a loving husband, a friend to all, and a devoted father to his kids. In his tribute, Good Morning America's correspondent Gio Benitez wrote:
"Dax was a champion for so many at ABC News, leading the way on groundbreaking television specials."
