The cause of death has now been revealed for Dax Tejera and, contrary to what ABC News president Kim Godwin said last month, the ABC News producer did not die from a heart attack on Dec. 23.
ET has confirmed that Tejera chocked to death because he was drunk while out at dinner with his wife and friends at Bobby Van’s Steakhouse. A spokesperson for the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner tells ET that Tejera’s official cause of death was “asphyxia due to obstruction of airway by food bolus complicating acute alcohol intoxication.”
The New York Post was first to report the news.
Just last month, Godwin released a statement addressing Tejera’s death, which read, “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. As executive producer 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. Our thoughts are with his wife, Veronica, the couple’s two young daughters, and the entire Tejera family.”
Tejera was an executive producer of This Week with George Stephanopoulos. He was 37.
Shortly after the tragedy, Tejera’s wife, Veronica, was arrested after she was accused of leaving their 2-year-old and 5-month-old daughters alone at the Yale Club in the hours leading up to Dax’s sudden death.
In a statement shared with ET, the mother-of-two said she made a “poor decision” by leaving their daughters alone on the evening of Dec. 23.
“My family and I are devastated by Dax’s sudden passing. He has left behind a heartbroken family, and two daughters he loved with all his heart,” Veronica began.
“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,” the statement continued. “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.”
Veronica added, “Our family has suffered a terrible tragedy. I respectfully ask for privacy while my children and I mourn Dax’s death.”
She was arrested and booked on two counts of “acting in a manner injurious to a child.”
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