ABC is in the spotlight again with yet another scandal as one of its own- news producer Dax Tejera, 37, collapsed and died of a heart attack on a cold concrete slab outside a Manhattan steakhouse last month after leaving his two very young children alone in a hotel room.
His wife, Veronica, 33, was arrested after it was discovered the couple had left their daughters – aged five months and two years old – alone at the Yale Club hotel just a block away.
It has now been revealed that Tejera suffered the fatal heart attack moments after he and his wife had left Bobby Van’s restaurant on Park Avenue. Veronica traveled in the ambulance with her husband, while the couple’s friends went to the Yale Club to collect the children.
However, the Yale Club staff called the police at around 11 pm, after they discovered the children had been left unattended for at least two hours. Veronica was arrested by the NYPD at around 12.20 am and charged with two counts of ‘acting in a manner injurious to a child’. The children, who were unharmed, were left with their grandmother.
Veronica was released from custody shortly after 4 am. She has admitted it was a “poor decision” to leave their daughters on their own, but that hasn’t stopped some from questioning her judgment.
Veronica, a senior producer at the Washington Post, has insisted the couple ‘had two cameras trained’ on the children as they slept.
In a statement released on Monday night, Veronica Tejera said, “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.”
“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,” she continued.
She concluded her statement by saying, “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. Our family has suffered a terrible tragedy. I respectfully ask for privacy while my children and I mourn Dax’s death.”
However, what may be even more shocking is that Veronica has since set up a fundraiser linked on her Instagram page for her daughter’s 529 college account, asking for donations in her late husband’s memory.
Veronica has been charged with two counts of “acting in a manner injurious to a child.” She will need to appear in court at a future date, police said.
