ABC mourns sudden death of a beloved producer, “We miss our friend and colleague Alexa.”
ABC News producer who won an Emmy Award for her coverage of the Las Vegas mass shooting in 2017 has died suddenly at age 27.
ABC News mourns the sudden death of beloved producer, Alexa Valiente.
Alexa Valiente, a beloved ABC producer who worked behind-the-scenes cultivating award-winning stories for ABC News, died Friday, The Wrap reports.
The network published a small obit about Valiente’s passing, the outlet reports, without any details about the cause of 27-year-old’s unexpected death. According to ABC, all that was known was Valiente was “facing health issues for several months.”
She was employed for the last six years at the network. Last year, Valiente saw the fruit of her labor in one big way when she won an Emmy for the 20/20 feature Las Vegas: Heartbreak and Heroes. The show was centered on the 2017 Las Vegas massacre.
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During her tenure at ABC, Valiente worked on Nightline, 20/20 and Popcorn With Peter Travers, the outlet reports.
“She was known for her infectious laugh and one-of-a-kind personality that stretched far beyond the walls the newsroom,” a colleague Kelly McCarthy wrote.
She continued saying, “the news came as a surprise to many in the newsroom who knew her well.”
While it remains uncertain what health issues Valiente was battling, she previously joked about a doctor’s visit in a Twitter thread called #HealthPickupLines.
I’ve been waiting an hour to see my doctor. So just in time for Valentine’s Day, I’ve crafted these genius #HEALTHPICKUPLINES for you to use. pic.twitter.com/F98KsUx8Rf
— Alexa Valiente (@AlexaCaliente) February 5, 2019
Tributes to the darling TV producer has poured in online.
“I met Alexa when I was an intern for @ABC in NYC,” said ABC7 reporter Gabriela Milian. “We would grab coffee, and talk about the next state she was visiting because she had a goal of going to a new state in the U.S. every month! Can’t believe she’s gone.”
“No words can express how much we miss our friend and colleague Alexa,” added her ABC News colleague Armando Tonatiuh Torres-García. “Our ABC family truly lost someone who always smiled, made us laugh, and uplifted us each day. It’s a devastating loss. RIP friend.”
The Asian-American Journalists Association, which Valiente was a member of, also issued a statement about her death.
“AAJA is deeply saddened by Alexa Valiente’s passing,” they said. “The AAJA family would like to offer our sincerest condolences to Alexa’s loved ones and to ABC News. She will be missed.”
