Utterly dumbfounded by this news story

[Deleted]

ABC News producer Dax Tejera and his wife left their two young daughters alone in their room at a members-only Midtown club to go out with friends to a nearby steakhouse — before he suddenly collapsed and died of a heart attack, sources told The Post on Tuesday.

His widow Veronica Tejera, 33, was arrested just hours later on Dec. 23 and charged with child endangerment for leaving the girls, who are five months and two years old, unattended at the Yale Club at 50 Vanderbilt Avenue, police said.

The mom said in a statement that when her husband collapsed, she accompanied him to the hospital and asked her parents and a close friend to watch the kids — “as I monitored them by camera.”

She claimed the hotel wouldn’t allow her friend in and called the NYPD instead.

Full story link

I absolutely can't understand this decision. I don't care if you're watching them on the camera. That does you no good unless you're in another room - seconds away. Not around the corner. What if there had been a fire or emergency in the hotel and no one knew they were in there? I know this woman is facing a tragic loss, but the hotel IMO the hotel did the right thing in calling the police when they found out the kids had been left unattended. 

[Deleted]

Also, for the record, my kids will be 11 and 13 by the time we travel to Maui at Christmas and my husband casually suggested we go out for NYE and leave them in the room and I said I wasn't comfortable with it. Just too many unknowns.

[lust2hart]

Yikes. I wasn't readying the pitchfork at the beginning of the story, but when I got to their ages... Yeah, that's not okay.

My heart goes out to his widow and kids.

[icedcoffee]

Yep---that was a very bad parenting call on their behalf. I feel for her, but she should absolutely be charged. I understand the temptation to do it, but you just can't.

We won't even walk the dog while the kids are sleeping, because what if something happened and I got hit by a car or something and the kids are home alone and it could be hours until someone gets home.

[icedcoffee]

Also--let's put the blame on BOTH parents. They BOTH went to dinner and left the kids.

[brooklyn]

Holy crap. If you can afford The Yale Club, fancy night out, etc, you can certainly afford a babysitter to watch the kids.

Kids that young should never be unattended, but I’d have more sympathy for a single parent at a job interview or something, not this.

[gummybear]

Good Lord those children are VERY young! There really is no justification for that at all. What a sad story all around.

[Deleted]

Jan 3, 2023 15:43:41 GMT -5 icedcoffee said:

Also--let's put the blame on BOTH parents. They BOTH went to dinner and left the kids.

Absolutely. Thank you for pointing that out. 

[SwimDeep]

Um ... I can barely leave my pets alone in the house to run errands. Two babies under three? GTFOH

Nobody schedules emergencies. This was a stupid decision and consequences should be had.

Also, sounds like she can afford good lawyers.

[TR]

Jan 3, 2023 15:43:41 GMT -5 icedcoffee said:

Also--let's put the blame on BOTH parents. They BOTH went to dinner and left the kids.

Well yes, but only she is available for punishment.

[bears]

Holy shit, that's so young to leave the kids alone. Some people lose their minds when on vacation with their kids and make terrible decisions. One of my former coworkers was really annoyed when her kids were a similar age and she went on vacation in Mexico and that the monitor's range wouldn't allow her to listen to the kids when she was 5 floors down at the pool. Fucking crazy that she would have done that if the monitor was working.

[seeyalater52]

Jan 3, 2023 15:42:14 GMT -5 lust2hart said:

Yikes. I wasn't readying the pitchfork at the beginning of the story, but when I got to their ages... Yeah, that's not okay.

My heart goes out to his widow and kids.

Same, I was expecting them to be like 10 or 11. Yikes. Yikes yikes yikes.

[Deleted]

Also, a travel blogger posted this story and basically was like "not sure what the big deal is. She had her phone to check on them."

[sequins]

I mean, the worst scenario happened. The parent died when he left his kids alone unattended. Idk the full details of his heart attack but did he have to be rushed to a hospital? If the wife had had to attend to his emergency, the kids would have been alone all night! They lived the caution story. Such a sad and crazy situation, wow.

[sonrisa]

Jan 3, 2023 15:49:03 GMT -5 @rebeccawelton said:

Jan 3, 2023 15:43:41 GMT -5 icedcoffee said:

Also--let's put the blame on BOTH parents. They BOTH went to dinner and left the kids.

Absolutely. Thank you for pointing that out. 

I assume we blame them both - but he's dead. So he can't be held accountable. 

[kath16]

They left them alone before or after he collapsed? I’m a bit confused.

Obviously, either way is an extremely bad decision. One I will give a very small amount of grace for though bc panic makes people do weird stuff sometimes.

[livinitup]

I wasn’t prepared to be shocked. But I am shocked.

[icedcoffee]

Jan 3, 2023 16:01:47 GMT -5 kath16 said:

They left them alone before or after he collapsed? I’m a bit confused.

Obviously, either way is an extremely bad decision. One I will give a very small amount of grace for though bc panic makes people do weird stuff sometimes.

Before.  They left them alone and went to dinner where he had a heart attack and died.

[Jalapeñomel]

Did they not see Four Rooms?

I’m so sorry for those kids.

[VillainV]

Jan 3, 2023 16:06:49 GMT -5 Jalapeñomel said:

Did they not see Four Rooms?

I’m so sorry for those kids.

Have none of these people heard of the Madeleine McCann story??

I just can’t fathom anyone thinking it’s okay to leave children that young unattended in a hotel room (or at home, or in the car, or at the park…).

I wonder how many times they had done this??

[HRH Queen Dick I, Orphan]

What is there to understand? Wealth doesn't preclude you from being a shitty insane parent.

You guys will make excuses for anything, I swear to God.

[ssmjlm]

OMG, those poor children!

I just cannot figure out what the thought process would be to leave 2 young kids like that go out to dinner and wherever.

[ProfessorArtNerd]

5 months?! Was the 2 year old supposed to make a bottle or change them? I’m also dumbfounded

[rachers]

Yiiikes. I will never understand the thinking here.

We knew a couple who when staying overseas once left their toddler upstairs in their room to go downstairs to the bar. He was old enough to open the door and the hotel found him wandering the halls by himself. I cannot imagine.

[penguingrrl]

What a stupid and selfish thing to do. Leaving babies alone like that is inexcusable.

[seeyalater52]

Jan 3, 2023 16:14:09 GMT -5 VillainV said:

Jan 3, 2023 16:06:49 GMT -5 Jalapeñomel said:

Did they not see Four Rooms?

I’m so sorry for those kids.

Have none of these people heard of the Madeleine McCann story??

I just can’t fathom anyone thinking it’s okay to leave children that young unattended in a hotel room (or at home, or in the car, or at the park…).

I wonder how many times they had done this??

That was the first thing I thought of. I don’t even really follow crime news but it haunts me. I just can’t imagine.

[basilosaurus]

If you're going to Yale club I'm going to guess you're not saying in a roach motel. Surely the hotel could have arranged a sitter service.

I'm astounded at these ages.

[sonrisa]

Jan 3, 2023 16:34:37 GMT -5 basilosaurus said:

Surely the hotel could have arranged a sitter service.

I'm guessing they were counting on this, then when everyone was booked (it was Dec. 23rd after all) instead of changing their plans like other parents would, they went ahead to dinner. He collapsed at the beginning of the meal. And then she asked her friends to "rush over" and check on the kids. (note she didn't say "stay with the kids until I got back" or "pick up the kids" just check on them). So if he hadn't collapsed they would have happily continued their meal leaving the kids alone for the next hour or two.

[VillainV]

Jan 3, 2023 16:42:09 GMT -5 sonrisa said:

Jan 3, 2023 16:34:37 GMT -5 basilosaurus said:

Surely the hotel could have arranged a sitter service.

I'm guessing they were counting on this, then when everyone was booked (it was Dec. 23rd after all) instead of changing their plans like other parents would, they went ahead to dinner. He collapsed at the beginning of the meal. And then she asked her friends to "rush over" and check on the kids. (note she didn't say "stay with the kids until I got back" or "pick up the kids" just check on them). So if he hadn't collapsed they would have happily continued their meal leaving the kids alone for the next hour or two.

And her parents! So she had both friends AND parents in the area who were available enough to rush over to the hotel, but not available enough to watch the kids in the first place?

[sonrisa]

Jan 3, 2023 16:43:51 GMT -5 VillainV said:

Jan 3, 2023 16:42:09 GMT -5 sonrisa said:

I'm guessing they were counting on this, then when everyone was booked (it was Dec. 23rd after all) instead of changing their plans like other parents would, they went ahead to dinner. He collapsed at the beginning of the meal. And then she asked her friends to "rush over" and check on the kids. (note she didn't say "stay with the kids until I got back" or "pick up the kids" just check on them). So if he hadn't collapsed they would have happily continued their meal leaving the kids alone for the next hour or two.

And her parents! So she had both friends AND parents in the area who were available enough to rush over to the hotel, but not available enough to watch the kids in the first place?

Good point.