Dax Tejera’s Wife Accused of Leaving Children Alone Amid His Death

Veronica Tejera is speaking out after being accused of endangering her children’s welfare.

Veronica—the wife of late ABC News producer Dax Tejera—was charged with two counts of endangering the welfare of a child amid the passing of her husband, NYPD Lieutenant John Grimpel confirmed to E! News Jan. 4. 

Dax, who produced This Week With George Stephanopoulos, died on Dec. 23 at age 37 due to a heart attack, according to a memo from network president Kim Godwin at the time.

That same evening, Veronica left the couple’s 2-year-old and 5-month-old daughters in a hotel room, she said in a statement to Entertainment Tonight published Jan. 3. 

An NYPD spokesperson told E! News that officers responded to a 911 call at 11 p.m. reporting “unattended children” who were left alone, adding, “The mother was placed in custody and charged.”

Now, Veronica is sharing her side of what happened that night. “When Dax collapsed on December 23rd, I accompanied him in an ambulance to the hospital,” she said in her statement to ET. “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.”