ABC News producer Dax Tejera died in December of choking on food while intoxicated, not of a heart attack as initially reported, officials told People Wednesday.
Tejera, 37, suffered on Dec. 23 from “asphyxiation due to airway obstruction caused by a food bolus complicating acute alcohol intoxication,” the New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said.
ABC News President Kim Godwin made the announcement to staff shortly after Tejera, executive producer of “This Week,” died of a heart attack.
ABC declined to comment on the latest development.
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Tejera, who joined “This Week” in 2020, sparked a ratings surge among the show’s Sunday public affairs programs, hosted by George Stephanopoulos. “He had big plans and big dreams that were just starting to come true,” co-host Jonathan Karl said in December.
The producer left behind a legal dilemma for his wife, Veronica, and their 2-year-old daughter and daughter.
On the night of her death, Veronica Tejera was arrested for “acting in a manner harmful to a child” because the Tejeras left the children unattended in their Manhattan hotel room while they dined out. An employee at Bobby Van’s restaurant said Tejera glared at the table and a waiter followed the producer out the front door, the New York Post reported.
Veronica Tejera told “Entertainment Tonight” she made a “wrong choice” and tried unsuccessfully to organize surveillance as the emergency unfolded. He said he was monitoring the children through a camera.
