Christopher Scholtes, father of 2 year old Marana, Arizona girl, Parker Scholtes charged with infant’s hot car death as parent is booked with murder after initially claiming only half an hour had passed when he went to check on girl when in fact it was revealed the girl spent 3 hours in triple digit weather.
The father who left his two-year-old daughter in the back of a hot car in 109F heat while he was inside their house only to then return and claim the air-conditioning he had running, ‘suddenly’ turning off, has been charged with the girl’s murder.
Parker Scholtes was found unresponsive in her dad’s car outside her home in Marana, north of Tucson, Arizona, on Tuesday when her mom arrived.
Police initially said the toddler was believed to have been left there for less than an hour, but later discovered from security footage it was about three hours, AZFamily reported.
Dad played Playstation knowing air-conditioner would shut off leaving 2 year old to die in hot car
Why did dad leave daughter out in 109 Fahrenheit weather?
Parker’s dad, Chris Scholtes, 37, told police that when he arrived home the little girl was asleep in the back seat and he didn’t want to wake her.
‘He left the vehicle on and running in the driveway, with the air conditioning on and the child inside,’ police said.
‘Christopher told detectives he did not want to wake his daughter up so she could continue sleeping in the vehicle. Christopher then went inside the residence.’
Parker’s mother Erika Scholtes, 35, returned home and discovered her daughter in the car unresponsive, at which point 911 was called about 4pm.
At some point in those three hours, the car and air-conditioning turned off and the temperate inside skyrocketed in the morning heat.
Erika performed CPR on Parker until paramedics arrived and rushed her to Banner University Medical Center Tucson, where Erika worked as an anesthesiologist
2 year old had been left in 109 Fahrenheit for 3 hours
‘Resuscitation efforts were being done, and the child was immediately transported to the hospital. Unfortunately, the child was pronounced deceased at the hospital,’ police said.
Police on Friday morning charged Scholtes with second degree murder and child abuse.
The parent is now in being held in custody at Pima County Adult Detention Center, the dailymail reported.
Offered the Marana Police Dept: ‘Marana Police detectives were granted a search warrant the night of the incident and conducted a thorough investigation,’
‘During the investigation, detectives obtained video surveillance from nearby residences and determined that the child had been in the vehicle for approximately three hours.
‘This incident is a stark reminder of the dangers of leaving children unattended in vehicles.
‘The temperature inside a vehicle can rise rapidly, even on relatively mild days, leading to potentially fatal outcomes within minutes.’
Unanswered questions
Marana Police Captain Tim Brunenkant said many of the details about Parker’s death were still being investigated.
‘We don’t know the circumstances, we are trying to find that out. When those temperatures arise especially this week when it’s 110. It’s just tragic,’ he told reporters.
‘We are doing the interviews, and we are trying to determine if this was a mistake, ‘Is it an accident? Is that possible?’ We’ll have to determine that.’
Adding, ‘All we know is that it was a hot car. The child was unresponsive, it was very hot, and it’s very tragic,’
‘He left the child in the car. The car was running, the AC was operational. We are trying to determine how long he was in the house, at what time the car may have shut off or the AC stopped working.’
