Christopher Scholtes, Marana, Arizona dad played Playstation knowing air-condition that he had turned on would shut off leaving 2 year old to die in hot car after failing to check on the girl amid 109 Fahrenheit for over 3 hours after initially claiming he had left Parker Scholtes unattended for 30 minutes. Damning texts between the husband and wife, Erica, show the father regularly leaving the children in the car unattended.
An Arizona father played Playstation after leaving his two year-old daughter in a hot car amid searing 109F heat to die, despite later claiming he had the air-conditioning on, while texts between him and his wife now reveal the dad knew that the car’s cooling system would automatically shut off after thirty minutes.
Christopher Scholtes, 37, of Marana, AZ, was arrested on Friday and charged with second-degree murder and child abuse following the death of 2 year old girl, Parker Scholtes.
Scholtes told police that he left his daughter in her car seat inside the vehicle because he did not want to wake up the two year old as she slept in the parked automobile in the family driveway, according to a criminal complaint.
He said he’d left her in the family’s blue Honda Acura SUV for around 30 minutes after arriving home at 2.30pm, police alleged.
But new evidence put forward by prosecutors suggests the toddler was actually in the car for three hours in direct sunlight, KVOA reported.
His wife Erika Scholtes, a doctor at the hospital where Parker was declared dead, arrived home at 4.08pm and asked where their daughter was, only to find her in unresponsive in the car, police said.
As Parker was rushed to the hospital, Erika texted her husband, saying: ‘I told you to stop leaving them in the car, how many times have I told you.’
She later added: ‘We’ve lost her, she was perfect.’
‘Babe I’m sorry! This can’t be real!’
Scholtes replied: ‘Babe I’m sorry! How could I do this. I killed our baby, this can’t be real.’
Scholtes’ two other children, aged nine and five, told police their father regularly left all three siblings alone in the vehicle.
The kids told police Scholtes ‘got distracted by playing his game and putting his food away’ as Parker was dying in the car, according to the complaint.
The father-of-three told police he left the air conditioning in the Acura running but knew it would automatically shut off after about 30 minutes, based on previous experience.
Scholetes told police he got home with Parker about 2.30pm, but surveillance footage from neighbors’ cameras showed his car arrived at the house about 12.53pm.
Footage also showed Scholetes never going outside to check on Parker until his wife arriving home and asking where their daughter was, police alleged.
Wife asks that husband be allowed to return home until next hearing to grieve with family
Minutes later they found Parker unresponsive in the back of the car and a 911 call was made at 4.16pm, when the temperature was 109F.
On Monday, Erika Scholtes, an anesthesiologist, called her daughter’s death a ‘big mistake’ as she begged a Tuscon judge to reconsider holding her husband until his next hearing in August.
The judge upheld the doctor’s request – agreeing to release the suspect until his next hearing next month so he can ‘start the grieving process’ with his relatives.
‘I’m just asking if you can allow him to come home to us so we can all start the grieving process,’ Erika said during a remote appearance at her husband’s scheduled hearing.
She explained it would be ‘so that he can bury our daughter with us this upcoming week, and [so] that we can go through this poor process together as a family’.
‘This was a big mistake and I think that it doesn’t represent him,’ the mom added.
‘I just want that the girls to see their father so that I don’t have to tell them tonight that they’re going to endure another loss.’
The defense proceeded to point out how Scholtes lacked a criminal history – aside from a DUI charge from 15 years ago.
Medical experts warn against leaving children in a car unattended even with air-conditioning on.
‘I can’t over-emphasize that you shouldn’t do that,’ Dr. Frank LoVecchio, a Valleywise emergency physician told 12 News.
LoVecchio said he warns people should never leave kids unattended in a car, even if they think the air conditioning is on. He said he’s seen many things go wrong.
‘If you leave your car in a sunny spot, it rises by one degree Celsius for the first 30 minutes,’ LoVecchio told the outlet. ‘The temperature goes really, really high inside the car.’
