Police arrested the widow of ABC News producer Dax Tejera on child endangerment charges in New York City sometime in the hours after her husband died of a heart attack just before Christmas, according to authorities cited in a new report.
Veronica Tejera was booked on two counts of “acting in a manner injurious to a child” after police responded to a 911 call at 11 p.m. on December 23 about “unattended children” at 50 Vanderbilt Avenue in Manhattan, a New York City Police Department spokesperson told Variety. That address is the location of a members-only hotel called The Yale Club.
A preliminary investigation “revealed that a 2-year-old female and a 5-month-old female were left alone inside of a hotel room for an extended period of time,” police said.
The report said Dax and Veronica Tejera shared two young daughters matching those ages and lived in Maryland.
Dax Tejera, an executive producer of “This Week” on ABC News, died at the age of 37 on December 23, the network announced the following day.
.@RachelvScott reports on the sudden passing of Dax Tejera, the Executive Producer of @ABCThisWeek. In a memo to employees, @ABC President Kim Godwin said that Dax's passion and love for the show shined every Sunday morning. pic.twitter.com/Cl7P5EJ1O5
— World News Tonight (@ABCWorldNews) December 25, 2022
In a memo to staff, ABC News President Kim Godwin shared condolences with Dax Tejera’s family and said that the producer showed the “same love” to his “precious girls” that he did to his show. Tributes from other colleagues told a similar story.
“He adored his family and he loved his work,” “This Week” co-anchor Johnathan Karl said in an Instagram post. “Dax had big plans and big dreams that were just beginning to be fulfilled. Death has taken him like a thief in the night, leaving those of us touched by Dax shocked and hurt — and cheated to lose him so soon, so suddenly, so inexplicably.”
The Variety report, published Friday, said Veronica Tejera received a desk ticket appearance after her arrest, which indicates that she was required to appear in criminal court at a future date. The news outlet reported that Veronica Tejera did not immediately reply to its requests for comment.