EMERGING DETAILS

Late ABC News Producer, Widow Accused of Leaving Kids Alone to Dine Out

Dax Tejera’s wife was arrested hours after his fatal heart attack.

Hours after ABC News This Week executive producer Dax Tejera died of a heart attack, his wife found herself facing criminal charges. Veronica Tejera, 33, is accused of child endangerment after the couple allegedly left their 2-year-old and 5-month-old girls unattended at the Yale Club to dine out with some friends at Bobby Van’s Steakhouse, according to multiple reports. In a statement, Tejera claimed that she asked her parents and a friend to rush to the hotel and monitor the kids while she accompanied her husband to the hospital via ambulance, but that instead of allowing the friend upstairs, the club phoned the police. “We had two cameras trained on my children as they slept, and I monitored them closely in the time I was away from them,” Tejera said on Monday. “While the girls were unharmed, I realize that it was a poor decision.” The widow is due in Manhattan Criminal Court on Jan. 12.