Wife Of ABC Producer Arrested After Leaving Kids In A Hotel Alone & Going To Restaurant Before His Fatal Heart Attack
She claims she was watching the children via a camera.
@daxtejera / Instagram ABC News executive producer Dax Tejera's wife is facing two charges of child endangerment for allegedly leaving the couple's kids "unattended" on the evening of his death.
Dax died on December 23 after suffering a fatal heart attack. That same night, New York City Police responded to a 911 call regarding "unattended children inside of 50 Vanderbilt Avenue," according to a statement from an NYPD's Deputy Commissioner Public Information Office spokesperson.
The address corresponds with The Yale Club, a members-only hotel in Manhattan.
Dax Tejera's wife is accused of leaving her kids unattended before her husband's death.
Veronica Tejera, 33, was arrested and charged with two counts of "acting in a manner injurious to a child" on the day of her husband's death.
Upon arriving at the hotel, police found a 2-year-old and a 5-month-old unattended for an unknown period of time.
Veronica was arrested just hours later and charged with child endangerment. According to law enforcement, the mother had also left her cell phone in the room.
“When Dax collapsed on December 23rd, I accompanied him in an ambulance to the hospital. I asked both a close friend and my parents to rush to my children’s hotel room to attend to them as I monitored them by camera. The hotel would not allow my friend in and instead called the NYPD,” Veronica said in a statement to The New York Post
“We had two cameras trained on my children as they slept, and I monitored them closely in the time I was away from them. While the girls were unharmed, I realize that it was a poor decision.”
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Sources claim the Tejera's left their children alone to go out for dinner before Dax's fatal heart attack.
According to sources who spoke to the New York Post, the two were dining at Bobby Van’s 230 Park Steakhouse with another couple when Dax quickly became unwell after the group ordered dinner.
A server noticed Dax as he brought their orders to the table.
“So, before anyone ate, just after the server brought the orders, he asked, ‘Are you ok sir?'” a restaurant employee told The New York Post.
Dax allegedly “got up and started walking like he was going to the men’s room, but he made a right instead and went out the front door and the server followed him outside,” the employee added.
According to the group's server, the producer collapsed in a corner right outside the restaurant.
While Veronica Tejera accompanied her husband in the ambulance to the hospital, she called and asked friends to check on their two children, 2-year-old Sofia, and 5-month-old Ella.
They arrived around 10 pm, however, were forbidden by hotel staff from entering the room.
Once the staff was notified that the children were unaccompanied in one of the rooms, NYPD was called.
“Our family has suffered a terrible tragedy. I respectfully ask for privacy while my children and I mourn Dax’s death,” the grieving wife wrote in her statement to the press.
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Veronica was given a desk appearance ticket and is due back in Manhattan Criminal Court on January 12.
The tragic news of Tejera’s death was shared with other ABC staff in an internal email from the network’s news president, Kim Goodwin.
"It’s with a heavy heart and great sadness that we share that our friend and colleague, Dax Tejera passed away suddenly of a heart attack last night," the email read.
"As EP of 'This Week with George Stephanopoulos' Dax’s energy, passion, and love for that show, ABC News, and you, shined every Sunday morning. That same love was extended to his precious girls.”
Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.