It’s always heartbreaking when someone passes away, and when it involves a child, the sorrow runs even deeper. This unfortunate event took place two years ago when a little girl tragically died after being left in a hot car.
At that time, the child’s 37-year-old father, Christopher Scholtes, left her in the vehicle because she was asleep. Sadly, the car was parked under the sweltering Arizona sun for hours while he played video games inside.
Initially, Scholtes faced indictment and charges for his actions. Now, two years later, new developments have resulted in a grand jury charging him with first-degree murder and child abuse.
The little girl, Parker, was found unresponsive in their Honda Acura CRV at around 4:15 in the afternoon. According to the County medical examiner, her body temperature had soared to a dangerous 108.9°F, leading to her tragic death due to ‘environmental heat exposure.’
Reports disclosed that Scholtes was engrossed in playing PlayStation video games when his daughter’s life slipped away. Initially charged with second-degree murder for leaving her in a running car with the air conditioning on, further investigations revealed more details
The family had arrived home at midday, around 12:30 PM. Scholtes decided not to disturb Parker, who was napping, and left her in the car, intending it to be a brief period. However, court records showed that he ended up playing video games for more than three hours. Parker was only discovered when his wife arrived home at 4 PM.
Scholtes’ wife is an anesthesiologist, and she hastily sent text messages to her husband while rushing Parker to the hospital. She lamented, “I told you to stop leaving them in the car, how many times have I told you? We’ve lost her, she was perfect.”
Scholtes responded with deep regret, “Babe I’m sorry. How could I do this? I killed our baby, this can’t be real.”
Further reports indicated that Scholtes got distracted by his video game and the act of putting away groceries, which led him to forget that his daughter was still in the vehicle. With new information and testimonies from the other children, the charge of first-degree murder was deemed appropriate, reflecting the severity of his negligence.
