Will father of Parker Scholtes, 2 year old Marana, Arizona girl who died in hot car now face charges? Chris Scholtes claims leaving girl in car in front of the family driveway with the air conditioning running only to find it had shut off when he returned some time later as police seek to understand why the dad went inside and left the girl alone in 109 Fahrenheit temperatures…
A two-year-old girl in Arizona has died after she was left in a parked car in the family driveway amid searing triple digit temperatures on Tuesday.
Chris Scholtes, 37, told police he went inside the house in Marana, north of Tucson, AZ, leaving the car on and the air-conditioning running.
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109 Fahrenheit
The parent claimed returning about 4pm to discover the car had shut off and his daughter Parker Scholtes being unresponsive. It was then that the father immediately called 911.
The toddler was rushed to Banner University Medical Center Tucson, where her mother Erika Scholtes, 35, worked as an anesthesiologist. Nevertheless efforts to revive the child were unsuccessful, with the toddler declared deceased at the hospital, ABC15 reported.
Of note, the temperature in Marana at about 4 p.m on Tuesday was 109 Fahrenheit.
Marana PD officials said that the two-year-old girl was left sleeping in the car for about 30 minutes to an hour before she was found unresponsive as they now investigate the circumstances surrounding Parker Scholtes’ death, including whether it was an accident.
‘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,’ Marana Police Captain Tim Brunenkant told the dailymail.
‘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.’
Unanswered questions
Brunenkant said it was unclear exactly how long Parker was in the hot car, and how long since the car and air-conditioning turned off.
The official said it remained unclear why the father went inside and left the girl in the car for that period of time.
‘All we know is that it was a hot car. The child was unresponsive, it was very hot, and it’s very tragic,’ the official told the tabloid.
‘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.’
Brunenkant said at least one child died in a hot car every summer in the area, and this was a reminder to never leave a child alone in a car.
To date no charges have been made as authorities continue to investigate.
