An Arizona man, Christopher Scholtes, has been charged with murder and child abuse after his two-year-old daughter, Parker, tragically died in a hot car during a heatwave. The incident occurred in Marana, Pima County, Arizona, where temperatures reached a record-setting 111 degrees.
During a court hearing, Erika Scholtes, Christopher’s wife and the mother of the deceased child, described her husband as an “amazing father” and a “pillar of the community.” She pleaded with the judge to allow him to come home so that the family could grieve together and bury their daughter. Erika referred to the incident as a “big mistake” and insisted that it did not represent Christopher’s character.
According to authorities, Christopher left Parker in a car parked in the family’s driveway for several hours on Tuesday. The vehicle was turned off, with no air conditioning running. When Erika returned home, she found her daughter unresponsive and immediately called the police. Despite her efforts to perform CPR, Parker was pronounced dead at a hospital.
Christopher initially told the police that he arrived home at 2 p.m. with his daughter asleep in her car seat. In an attempt not to wake her, he left her in the running car with the air conditioning on and went inside. However, video footage from a neighbor revealed that he actually arrived home at 12:53 p.m.
The investigation into Parker’s death is ongoing, and Marana Police Captain Tim Brunenkant emphasized the tragic nature of the incident, particularly given the extreme temperatures. Temperatures in Marana that day would have caused a car to heat up to 140 degrees within 20 minutes and reach 150 degrees within 40 minutes.
Apart from a DUI charge 15 years ago, Christopher Scholtes does not have a criminal history. As a condition of his release, he is prohibited from having unsupervised contact with children. Erika Scholtes informed the court that she will be taking an extended leave of absence from work.
