Christopher Scholtes has been arrested for second-degree murder and child abuse.
A two-year-old girl died on Tuesday after spending several hours alone in a hot car. Parker Scholtes was the victim’s identity, as given by the Marana Police Department. Parker’s father, Christopher Scholtes, 37, reportedly told authorities that she slept out in the back seat of the car when she got home.
Temperatures in Marana soared to 109 degrees Fahrenheit (42.7 degrees Celsius) that day.
Emergency responders were called to the Scholtes residence on Tuesday afternoon after Parker was found unresponsive in the vehicle. Despite medical intervention, the child was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to a release by the police department, “during the initial investigation, the father, identified as 37-year-old Christopher Scholtes, told officers he arrived home, and the 2-year-old girl was still asleep in the vehicle in her car seat. He left the vehicle on and was running in the driveway, with the air conditioning on and the child inside. Christopher told detectives he did not want to wake his daughter up so she could continue sleeping in the vehicle. Christopher then went inside the residence. The mother was not home, but shortly after she arrived, the child was discovered in the vehicle, which was no longer running, and the air conditioning was off. 9-1-1 was called, and the mother performed CPR until NWFD and MPD arrived. NWFD performed life-saving measures, and the child was transported to Banner University Medical Center. Unfortunately, the child was pronounced dead.”
Marana Police Detectives were granted a search warrant the night of the incident and conducted a thorough investigation. During the investigation, detectives obtained video surveillance from nearby residences and determined that the child had been in the vehicle for approximately three hours.
On July 12 at 8:38 AM, Christopher Scholtes was arrested and booked into the Pima County Adult Detention Centre for 2nd Degree Murder and Child Abuse related to this tragic event.