The Marana father charged with the murder of his toddler had previously left his three children unattended in a vehicle in early July, according to court documents.
Police said on Friday, Christopher Scholtes, 37, was arrested by Marana police after he left his 2-year-old daughter inside a vehicle the child was sleeping in.
On July 9 at 4:16 p.m., a 911 call from the victim's family reported her lifeless inside a vehicle parked in the driveway of the family's home, according to Scholtes' arrest record.
The outdoor air temperature in Marana at the time of the call was 109 degrees, according to the documents. The girl was found still strapped into her booster seat and taken to the hospital where she was pronounced dead at 4:58 p.m., the documents said.
Police launched an investigation into the death by first interviewing the father, who told police he drove home around 2:30 p.m. with his daughter still asleep in the vehicle. A neighbor's security camera later reviewed by police showed Scholtes arrived at the home at 12:53 p.m. and was seen walking inside the home alone.
Scholtes told police he knowingly left his daughter sleeping inside the vehicle with the air conditioning running because he did not want to wake her up, despite telling police he knew of previous experiences when the vehicle would automatically shut off after running for about 30 minutes, the court documents stated.
Three hours later and minutes before the 911 call was placed, Scholtes' wife was seen on security camera parking in the driveway of the home, prompting her to ask Scholtes where the daughter was. Scholtes started searching the house room by room until he went outside and found the vehicle's engine off and his daughter inside, according to the documents.
Police said the security camera footage never showed Scholtes return to the vehicle after arriving home just before 1 p.m. and when his daughter was found unresponsive.
Text messages sent between Scholtes and his wife after the child died indicated that the father had left the children alone in a vehicle before.
"I told you to stop leaving them in the car, how many times have I told you? ... We've lost her, she was perfect," read a text message sent to Scholtes from his wife, according to the court documents.
"Babe our family. How could I do this. I killed our baby, this can't be real," Scholtes responded to his wife.
Police conducted interviews with Scholtes' two other children, ages 5 and 9, who arrived home just before the father on Friday.
The children said their father regularly left them alone in a vehicle while he "got distracted by playing his game and putting away his food," according to the court documents.
Police said the vehicle the child was found in was in westward-facing sunlight.
Scholtes was charged with second-degree murder and child abuse.
Most Popular
Comments / 0