A 2-year-old girl in Arizona died this week after being left in a hot car for more than three hours while her father was busy playing video games on his Playstation—he's now facing a murder charge.
Christopher Scholtes, 37, is a father of three. He claimed he left his daughter, Parker Scholtes, in the car for only 30 minutes because he didn't want to wake her up. The two had just arrived home from shopping. Court documents tell a different story.
The dad reportedly left his sleeping toddler inside his 2023 Acura MDX for more than three hours as he was preoccupied inside the home playing video games. His wife, who is a doctor, came home horrified as she discovered her daughter's lifeless body inside the car.
READ MORE: Girl, 2, dies after dad left her locked in car during blistering triple-digit Arizona heat
READ MORE: Distraught mom recalls 'nightmare' after baby boy died when she accidentally left him in car for hours
“I told you to stop leaving them in the car,” Erika Scholtes, an anesthesiologist, scolded her husband in text messages after the July 9 tragedy, according to KPLC-TV News. Based on Erika's conversation with her husband following his grave blunder, he was prone to neglecting his children.
“How many times have I told you?” To which the alleged murderer said: “Babe, our family. How could I do this? I killed our baby, this can’t be real.” Erika said Parker was the "perfect" daughter during the heart-wrenching realization she was gone forever.
Christopher told responding law enforcement agencies that he'd rode up to the family's home in the Tucson suburb of Marana around 2:30 p.m. He said the garage was cluttered with exercise equipment, so he decided to park outside. He forgot to take his sleeping toddler out of the car seat before parking, turning the car off and heading inside.
Click here to follow the Mirror US on Google News to stay up to date with all the latest news, sports and entertainment stories
Erika arrived home at 4 p.m. and was subject to the horrific sight. Surveillance footage reviewed by local law enforcement officials shows the father pulled up to the house half past noon and left the two-year-old in scorching 109-degree weather for more than three hours.
READ MORE: Twin boys who died from fentanyl exposure days after 3rd birthday pictured as mom charged with murder
READ MORE: Florida man dangled 4-year-old boy from 2nd story balcony before dropping him head-first, police say
The complaint filed in the case states that Christopher “got distracted playing his game and putting his food away." The pair's two other daughter's said their dad left all three siblings in the car alone while he was in the house on numerous occasions. Christopher told police he left the air conditioning on in the car for parker but soon admitted that he knew it automatically shut off after 30 minutes.
The alleged killer appeared in court Friday where he was charged with murder as well as child endangerment. His wife advocated for her husband's release as he awaited trial, calling the fatal blunder a "big mistake."
“I’m just asking if you can allow him to come home to us so that we can all start the grieving process, so he can bury our daughter with us this coming week and that we can go through this whole process together as a family,” she told the judge.
“This was a big mistake doesn’t represent him,” Erika Scholtes said. “I just want the girls to see their father — that I don’t have to tell them tonight that they’re going to have to endure another loss.”
Her words seemed to have done little as the judge set bail at $25,000, despite prosecutors request for it to be set at $1 million.
Local Arizona State
Most Popular
Comments / 0