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A high-flying ABC news producer who died outside a Bobby Van’s steakhouse in Manhattan after enjoying a meal with his wife while their young daughters were left alone in a hotel room and suffocated to death while drunk.
Dax Tejera, 37, died two days before Christmas while spending the holidays in New York City with his family.
Hours later, his wife, Verónica Tejera, was arrested on child endangerment charges after it emerged that the couple had left their children, aged two years and five months, in their hotel room.
The couple were staying at the exclusive Yale Club, just a few minutes’ walk from the steakhouse, when Tejera died. Club staff called police after realizing the children were left alone for several hours while the couple ate dinner.
The New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner told DailyMail.com on Wednesday that Tejera choked on food due to intoxication.
Dax Tejera, pictured with his children and his wife Veronica, died on December 23 after choking on a Manhattan steakhouse. Verónica was arrested after it emerged that the couple had left her daughter, aged two years and five months, alone in a hotel room while they ate dinner.
Tejera and his wife, Verónica, pictured together, went out to dinner in New York City while their children were left alone at the Yale Club.
The official cause of death was: ‘Asphyxia due to airway obstruction by a food bolus complicating acute alcohol poisoning’.
News of his death was first shared by ABC News President Kim Godwin, who said that Tejera “died suddenly of a heart attack.”
The producer collapsed and was rushed to Bellevue Hospital after the incident, but was pronounced dead on arrival.
Verónica, 33, had traveled in the ambulance with her husband, while the couple’s friends went to the Yale Club to pick up the children.
But Yale Club staff called police around 11 p.m., after discovering the children had been left unattended for at least two hours.
Veronica was arrested by the NYPD around 12:20 a.m. and charged with two counts of “acting in a manner injurious to a child.” The children, who were unharmed, stayed with her grandmother.
The couple left their daughters alone for at least two hours while they enjoyed dinner at Bobby Van’s Steakhouse at 230 Park Avenue in Manhattan, a block from the Yale Club. In the photo on the left: the entrance to the grill. Pictured to the right: Dax and Veronica in 2018
Tejera with colleagues from ABC in a meeting with President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden
Veronica was released shortly after 4 am She has admitted it was a “bad decision” to leave her daughters alone.
Police said the children were “left alone inside a hotel room for an extended period of time.” Veronica, a senior producer for the Washington Post, has insisted that the couple “had two cameras trained on” the children as they slept.
She was charged with two counts of “acting in a manner detrimental to a child” and was given a desk ticket that required her to appear in court at a future date, police said. The New York police said Wednesday afternoon that no further information was available about the case.
Bobby Van’s, where a steak and drinks dinner is about $200 a head, is a block from the Yale Club.
The couple was celebrating the holidays in New York and had plans to visit friends and go to Rockefeller Center, it is understood.
Dax and Veronica Tejera left their children alone in their Yale Club room for at least two hours while they ate dinner at Bobby Van’s. Veronica was arrested by the police for ‘acting in a way harmful to a child’
The couple were enjoying dinner at Bobby Van’s on December 23 during a stay in New York City for the holidays.
New York police said they received a 911 call at 11 p.m. Dec. 23 about “neglected children” at 50 Vanderbilt Avenue in Manhattan, home of the members-only Yale Club.
They found that “a two-year-old girl and a five-month-old girl were left alone inside a hotel room for an extended period of time.”
The Yale Club is an exclusive club for Yale University alumni. It includes rooms ranging from economy studios to 556-square-foot luxury suites.
The club also has luxury rooms for weddings and private events, along with a gym and a library.
Veronica’s LinkedIn profile recently listed her as a Senior Producer at the Washington Post, which she joined in October 2022. Prior to that, she spent nearly six years at CNN. Her profile indicates that her accomplishments there include producing an interview with President Joe Biden on The Lead with Jake Tapper.
Tejera with Katie Couric and Jorge Ramos at the Republican National Convention in 2016
She launched a fundraiser for the Tejera children’s college account 529 after her husband’s death. The page reads: ‘Dax Tejera passed away suddenly, leaving 2-year-old Sofía and 6-month-old Ella without her father. Please support the girl’s education.’
Tejera’s colleagues led tributes to the producer after his death.
Tejera had worked at ABC since 2017, when he started as a senior producer in the network’s Washington DC office.
Good Morning America correspondent Gio Benitez said in a moving Instagram post: “As you celebrate Christmas Eve with your families, please keep the family of Dax Tejera in your thoughts and prayers.”
“He was the executive producer of This Week ABC, a friend to all of us, and most importantly, a loving husband to Veronica and a devoted father to two beautiful girls, Sofia and Ella.
“Dax was a champion for many at ABC News, leading the way in groundbreaking television specials.”
Benitez posted a photo of the couple at the White House, explaining that it had been taken after interviewing Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre “for a broadcast network Pride special, the first of its kind.”
‘We often connect because we are exactly the same age: 37. Too young to have left. We will miss you dearly, Dax. Good luck my friend,” Benítez wrote.
Cecilia Vega published her own tribute, writing next to a photo of Tejera: ‘Your smile. Your laughter. your dedication. Your deep love for Verónica and your beautiful daughters. Her pride in her work. The way you cared for the next generation and fought to pave the way for Latinos who were coming up.
Tributes to the 37-year-old father of two were led by journalists and former colleagues.
‘The way you yourself broke down the barriers. The way he always encouraged me and believed in me. Your chic Miami style and the fact that even on the coldest days you never wore socks. Dax Tejera, you left too soon.
‘We will miss everything about you. Your family was so lucky to have you. Your legacy lives on in all those you stood up for and encouraged.’
Tejera had worked at ABC since 2017, when he started as a senior producer in the network’s Washington DC office.
He previously worked at NBC and earned degrees from Dartmouth and Columbia.