Jim Avila

By Joe Lombardi From Daily Voice

Jim Avila, a veteran correspondent who reported for NBC News and ABC News across five decades, has died at 69.

ABC News announced his death Thursday, Nov. 13, saying it came after a "long illness." Avila spent nearly 20 years at ABC News following a long run at NBC News.

Avila began in radio in San Francisco in 1973. At NBC News, he served as a national correspondent. He covered the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks and reported from Iraq and Afghanistan.

He joined ABC News for an 18-year stretch. He was a senior correspondent specializing in law, justice, and consumer investigations, covering high-profile trials, including those of O.J. Simpson, Michael Jackson, and former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky. 

From 2012 to 2016, he served as a White House correspondent. He was also a correspondent for ABC's "20/20." He received the Merriman Award for breaking the news that the US and Cuba would reopen diplomatic relations.

Avila’s work earned wide recognition. He won two National Emmy Awards and five Edward R. Murrow Awards. He also received the Mongerson Prize for Investigative Reporting. In 2019, he was inducted into the National Association of Hispanic Journalists' Hall of Fame.

He left ABC News in 2021. In 2023, he joined KGTV in San Diego as a senior investigative reporter, saying he found "retirement was boring."

Avila faced health challenges in recent years. He underwent a kidney transplant in 2018 with a donation from his brother.

He is survived by his three children, Jamie, Jenny, and Evan. 

ABC News President Almin Karamehmedovic acknowledged Avila’s death in an internal memo and extended condolences to his family.