Dax Tejera, an executive producer at ABC News who was believed to have died from a heart attack in late December, choked on food while intoxicated, a medical examiner revealed on Wednesday. The 37-year-old died just weeks ahead of his 38th birthday.
The New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner confirmed to The New York Post in a statement that Tejera died on Dec. 23 from “asphyxia due to obstruction of the airway by food bolus complicating acute alcohol intoxication.”
The ruling contradicts what ABC News president Kim Goodwin originally said in a memo to staff in December that Tejera died suddenly after having a heart attack.
An employee who was working at the restaurant where Tejera and his wife, Veronica, had dinner with friends on the night of the incident, told The Post that the producer looked very ill shortly into the meal, prompting staffers to have a waiter check on him.
“So, before anyone ate, just after the server brought the orders, he asked, ‘Are you OK, sir?'” the employee told the publication.
The employee went on to say that Tejera collapsed shortly after going outside the restaurant, explaining that the 37-year-old “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” of the eatery.
The waiter who was ordered to check on him then followed Tejera outside, which is where he “collapsed in the corner, right here outside the restaurant,” according to the worker.
‘Loved His Work’
Tejera joined ABC News in 2017 as a senior producer in the Washington Bureau where he remote-anchored broadcasts from across America.
During this period, he covered major events like the summit between former President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, and the meeting between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore.
Tejera became an executive producer of “The Week” in February 2020, with the program climbing to the number one spot in Sunday shows among adults aged 25 to 54 under his leadership.
In the December memo to network staffers, Goodwin said Tejera’s sudden death “shocked and hurt” everyone at the network, noting that the executive producer’s “energy, passion, and love” for the Sunday morning show always made the program shine.
Jonathan Karl, co-anchor of “This Week,” shared on the program that Tejera loved his family and his work.
“Our thoughts are with his wife Veronica, their two young daughters, and their entire family,” Goodwin said, adding that Tejera “will be deeply missed here by all of us at ABC News.”
Prior to joining ABC News, Tejera had worked with MSNBC, NBC, and HBO. He is survived by his wife and two young daughters, Ella aged 7 months, and Sofia aged 2 years.
Epoch Times reporter Naveen Athrappully contributed to this report.