Dax Tejera, an ABC News executive producer, died on December 23 at the age of 37. At the time, the reason of death remained unknown, leaving friends and family members with more questions than answers. Some of those questions are now being addressed.
The New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner ruled Tejera’s death an accident on Thursday.
“Asphyxia owing to blockage of airway by food bolus worsening acute alcohol intoxication,” according to the cause of death. In other words, he was inebriated and choking on food.
According to earlier accounts, Dax Tejera suffered a heart attack while dining with his wife. When a server questioned about Tejera since he appeared poorly at one point during the outing, he left the restaurant and walked outside. At that point, he began to suffocate to death.
Dax Tejera and his wife, Veronica Tejera, have left behind their two kids, Sofia, 2, and Ella, 7 months. Following his death, his wife was arrested and charged with endangering the welfare of two children on two different counts. Their two daughters were discovered abandoned in the hotel room where the couple was staying.
Veronica described what happened the night her husband died on January 3. The mother admitted that leaving their two children alone in the hotel room while the couple went out to dinner was a horrible idea because they had cameras trained on them and were keeping an eye on them.
Once her husband collapsed outside, she accompanied the ambulance team to the hospital. Her parents and a close friend were immediately called, and she asked that they go check on their two daughters in the hotel room. When they arrived at the hotel, the concierge refused to let them in.
Instead, hotel staff called the New York Police Department (NYPD), who checked on the children before detaining Veronica. “While the daughters were unharmed, I recognize that it was a stupid move,” Veronica stated on January 3, calling the entire affair a “awful tragedy” for her family.
Several friends and colleagues flocked to social media in the hours following his death to express their condolences to Dax Tejera and his wife, two children, and family. Kim Godwin, president of ABC News, first broke the news, and confirmed his death in a memo to ABC News employees.
“As the EP of This Week with George Stephanopoulos, Dax’s energy, passion, and love for that show, ABC News, and you shone every Sunday morning. “The same love was conveyed to his wonderful daughters,” she explained. “On Christmas Eve, hug your loved ones even tighter. And please rely on one another.”
On social media, others praised his dedication and love. “Dax was a game-changing episode. So essential to ABC that he was among the first Latinos to reach the status of executive producer, if not the first. I used to work with him at fusion and ABC. Always encouraging and damn good. I’m going to miss him. And I feel for his young family,” Jim Avila remarked.
