The wife of late ABC producer Dax Tejera is facing criminal charges after reportedly leaving her two young daughters alone in a hotel room in last month. Veronica Tejera, 33, was taken into custody hours after her husband died from a heart attack on December 23.
She was later charged with two counts of “acting in a manner injurious to a child," the Daily Mail reported.
Veronica Tejera addressed the incident in a statement issued on Monday, stating she had to leave the two girls alone so she could accompany her husband to a nearby hospital after he collapsed, per the New York Post. The 33-year-old said she called her parents and a close friend to watch the young girls while she continued to monitor the toddler and infant as they slept.
Tejera watched the young girls by camera until her friend and parents arrived at the hotel.
“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 explained in a statement obtained by the New York Post.
The couple and their two children were reportedly staying at The Yale Club in Midtown Manhattan.
“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," she added.
The NYPD released details after discovering the two children alone inside the hotel room.
On Monday, a preliminary investigation by the NYPD “revealed that a 2-year-old female and a 5-month-old female were left alone inside of a hotel room for an extended period of time," according to the Post.
Veronica Tejera was given a ticket to appear in criminal court at a later date, police said.
Dax Tejera, 37, died of a heart attack on December 23, just two days before Christmas. He was a producer on ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos.
The beloved producer's death was announced in an internal email from the network's news president, Kim Godwin.
"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," Godwin noted in a statement released on Christmas Eve, per the Daily Mail.
"As EP 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," the statement read.
"Our thoughts are with his wife, Veronica, the couple’s two young daughters, and the entire Tejera family."
Dax Tejera's wife has asked for privacy.
“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,” she noted in the Monday statement. “Our family has suffered a terrible tragedy. I respectfully ask for privacy while my children and I mourn Dax’s death.”
Dax Tejera started at ABC News as a senior producer working at the Washington Bureau before being promoted to executive producer on Stephanopoulos' show.
He previously worked for NBC for five years and graduated from Dartmouth and Columbia's Graduate School of Journalism.
