Dax Tejera, the executive producer of ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” died suddenly Friday at the age of 37.
ABC News President Kim Goodwin announced “with a heavy heart and great sadness” that Tejera died of a heart attack on Friday night, according to a memo she sent to company staff obtained by Mediaite.
He is survived by his wife Veronica and their two young daughters. Goodwin said in the memo she would be sharing more information in the coming days.
Tejera joined ABC News in 2017 as a senior producer before being promoted to the executive producer of Stephanopoulos’ show in February 2020, his Linkedin profile states.
He previously worked for five years at NBC as a researcher, editor and then producer and for four years as an executive producer on “America with Jorge Ramos” on Fusion Media Network.
He graduated from Dartmouth with a bachelor’s in history before attending Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism.
Fellow colleagues took to social media to mourn Tejera’s sudden passing and pay tribute to the beloved newsman.
“Sad day for abc. A good friend and groundbreaking ABC executive passes unexpectedly at 37. Dax Tejera i only have good thoughts my friend,” tweeted ABC News Senior National Correspondent Jim Avila.
“Absolutely tragic for ABC and the news industry,” former CNN chief media correspondent Brian Stelter tweeted.
“Your smile. Your laugh. Your dedication. Your profound love of Veronica and your beautiful daughters. Your pride in your work. The way you looked out for the next generation and fought to pave the way for Latinos coming up. The way you broke barriers yourself,” ABC White House Correspondent Cecilia Vega wrote in an Instagram post.
“Dax Tejera, you are gone too soon. We will miss everything about you.”
CNN host S.E. Cupp also joined the tribures, tweeting: “The worst kind of news. Heartbreaking to lose friend and colleague @DaxTejera, one of the kindest and brightest lights.”
