Father May Have Been Playing Video Games While Leaving 2-Year-Old Daughter In Hot Car, Resulting In Her Death

Last week, a 2-year-old girl died after she was left in a hot car in Tucson, Arizona.

Now, police say that her father, Christopher Scholtes, 37, may have been playing a video game when the child, Parker, died.

On Friday, he was placed in custody and charged with second-degree murder and child abuse.

According to News 4 Tucson, two other of Scholtes’s children, ages 9 and 5, stated that their father had left all of them by themselves in the car on a regular basis. They added that “he got distracted by playing his game and putting his food away,” when their sister was still in the vehicle.

A PlayStation and other electronics were seized by authorities as a component of the investigation. In addition to that, the car, a 2023 Acura MDX, was also taken by investigators from the Marana Police Department.

Documents also note that Scholtes had gotten a text message from his wife, Erika Scholtes, an anesthesiologist, as their daughter was being transported to a hospital saying, “I told you to stop leaving them in the car. How many times have I told you?”

The father then responded back, “Babe, I’m sorry!” She then replied, “We’ve lost her. She was perfect,” and he then said, “Babe our family. How could I do this? I killed our baby. This can’t be real.”

Scholtes also disclosed to detectives that he was aware that his car had a safety feature that would turn off the engine after 30 minutes. He stated that he knew that because of previous occurrences.

Court records show that the temperature was 109° at the time of the call.

The car had been parked in direct sunlight, with the car seat on the driver’s side of the car, which was a west-facing window. Scholtes was aware that he had left his daughter in the car. He told police that he took his daughter with him on some errands and then went back to their residence. She had been sleeping in her car seat, so he left her in the car as he went inside.

He told police that he had left the car running with the AC on. However, when he went back outside, the car was off and his daughter was unresponsive. Additionally, he told detectives that he normally parked the car in a garage. However, he didn’t on July 9 because exercise equipment was taking up the space.

Scholtes has pled not guilty after first appearing in court on Friday.

His wife has spoken publicly and stated that she desires for her husband to come back to their residence with their other children to start the grieving process. She added that he is not a risk to the public.

Police have stated that Scholtes’s account of the events does not match security video from a neighbor.

Scholtes said that he had gotten to his residence at about 2 p.m. However, security footage showed the vehicle getting to the home at 12:53 p.m., and it never left again.

At about 4 p.m., Scholtes’s wife returned home from work and questioned their daughter’s whereabouts. That is when he and his wife ran outside to check the car.

They contacted authorities immediately and then took their daughter inside the residence. They and first responders attempted to revive her, but they were unsuccessful.

Scholtes has now been released with no bond. But, he must stay away from drugs, alcohol, and firearms. Also, he isn’t allowed to spend any unsupervised time with his other two children.