Jim Avila, veteran ABC and NBC network journalist, dies at 69 after long illness

Jim Avila, a distinguished television journalist known for his extensive work covering major trials including the OJ Simpson murder case and his decades-long career at NBC and ABC News, passed away on November 12, 2025, at his home in San Diego.

He was 69 years old and had been battling a “long illness”, announced ABC News on Thursday.

Avila began his journalism career in 1973 at KCBS Radio in San Francisco before transitioning to television in 1976 as a weekend anchor and San Jose bureau chief for KPIX-TV. His career spanned major cities and networks with roles as an investigative reporter at KNBC in Los Angeles, where his prime assignment was covering the OJ Simpson trial, a coverage which earned the station a Golden Mike Award in 1995 and an Emmy Award in 1996.


He also worked at WLS and WBBM-TV in Chicago, covering significant events such as the Persian Gulf War, the Beirut War, and the Nicaraguan civil war among others.

From 1997 to 2004, Avila served as NBC's National Correspondent for Nightly News, filing an average of 130 reports per year, the highest for any minority journalist in the network's history.

His national and international reporting included in-depth coverage of the September 11 attacks, the DC sniper shootings, and war reporting from Afghanistan and Iraq, including coverage from inside NBC’s Baghdad hotel compound during a terrorist bombing.

In 2004, Avila joined ABC News as Senior Law and Justice Correspondent and later served as White House correspondent from 2012 to 2016. He broke significant stories, including the historic reopening of diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba, for which he won the Merriman Award from the White House Correspondents Association.

Avila covered many major trials, such as those of Jerry Sandusky and Michael Jackson, and explored important social issues including immigration and civil unrest.

Avila also reported a notable 2012 ABC News investigative story on the meat product known as pink slime, which sparked a $1.9 billion defamation lawsuit from Beef Products Inc. ABC News settled for $177 million while maintaining the integrity of its investigative reporting.

Throughout his career, Avila was honored with numerous awards, including five Chicago-area Emmy Awards for spot news, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists Reporter of the Year award in 1999, three Peter Lisagor Awards for outstanding journalism, and was inducted into the National Association of Hispanic Journalists Hall of Fame. He was widely respected for his durable and versatile reporting style and his dedication to justice and consumer investigations.

He is survived by his mother, Eve Simon; siblings including investigative reporter Jaie Avila; and his three children, Jamie, Jenny, and Evan.