The Washington PostDemocracy Dies in Darkness

Dax Tejera, executive producer of ABC’s ‘Stephanopoulos’ show, dies at 37

December 28, 2022 at 3:02 p.m. EST
Dax Tejera in Miami in 2013. (J Pat Carter/AP)
2 min
correction

An earlier version of this story cited the ABC News statement on the cause of death. The story has been updated with a new determination by the Office of Chief Medical Examiner.

Dax Tejera, the executive producer for ABC News’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” died Dec. 23 in New York. He was 37.

His death was announced by ABC in a memo to employees, citing heart attack as the cause. However, a statement by New York City’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, emailed to The Washington Post on Feb. 9, said Mr. Tejera died in a choking-related incident complicated by “acute alcohol intoxication.”

Mr. Tejera joined ABC News as a senior producer in the Washington bureau in 2017. Special coverage he helped direct included the June 2018 summit in Singapore between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and talks between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki later that year.

Mr. Tejera became executive producer for “This Week" in early 2020, shortly before the pandemic forced lockdowns and dominated worldwide coverage. Later, Mr. Tejera worked on segments examining the 2020 presidential election and the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol.

Richard Dax Tejera was born on Jan. 24, 1985, in Miami. His father focuses on family law at a law practice in Coral Gables, Fla., and his mother was a trauma nurse at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami.

Mr. Tejera graduated from Dartmouth College in 2007 with a degree in history and government. He was publisher of the school paper, The Dartmouth. He later received a master’s degree at Columbia University’s School of Journalism.

Before joining ABC News, Mr. Tejera was executive producer of “America with Jorge Ramos” on Fusion Media, and helped launch MSNBC’s “Jansing and Company” and “Now with Alex Wagner.” Mr. Tejera started his career with NBC News as an assignment editor and researcher.

Mr. Tejera also assisted with a 2016 HBO documentary, “Hate Rising,” focusing on white nationalists.

At ABC, he was co-executive producer on “Corazón de América — Celebrating Hispanic Culture,” a prime-time special on contributions and achievements by people of Latino and Hispanic heritage in the United States.

Mr. Tejera is survived by his wife Veronica, and two daughters, Ella and Sofia.