After making his baby girl suffer an unthinkable passing, an Arizona father was found lifeless on the same day he was supposed to report to prison ahead of his sentencing.
Christopher Scholtes, 38, was facing charges over leaving his 2-year-old daughter, Parker, in a boiling hot car while he played video games and watched adult videos.
Highlights
- Christopher Scholtes, 38, was found lifeless on the same day he was supposed to report to prison ahead of his sentencing.
- He was arrested last year for leaving his daughter in a hot car while he played video games and watched adult videos.
- He was released without bond and never spent a day behind bars for the child's tragic passing.
- The father took his own life “instead of coming in to take account for what has occurred.”
Christopher hadn’t spent a single day behind bars for the tragic passing of his toddler daughter, who was found unconscious in her father’s car on July 9, 2024. He was also allowed by a judge to go on a family vacation to Hawaii this year.
The father took his own life “instead of coming in to take account for what has occurred,” Pima County Attorney Laura Conover said in a statement
Image credits: News 4 Tucson KVOA-TV
Trigger warning: This article contains details of self-harm and loss of life under tragic circumstances
Christopher was found unresponsive in a Phoenix home just after 5 a.m. Wednesday, November 5.
The father was expected to surrender the same day in Pima County Superior Court, and his sentencing was scheduled for November 21.
He was facing up to 30 years behind bars after pleading guilty to 2nd degree m**der and child ab*se.
Image credits: Erika Scholtes
“We expected him to be in court this morning,” Pima County Attorney Laura Conover said in a Wednesday statement.
“But instead of coming in to take account for what has occurred here, we have been informed, and we have confirmed, that the father took his own life last night,” she continued.
The father left his 2-year-old daughter, Parker, alone in the car while he played video games and watched adult videos inside the house
Image credits: CNN
Hours before the child lost her life, Christopher drove around town with her in the back seat on July 9, 2024.
Surveillance footage captured him stopping at a local convenience store and grocery store and allegedly shoplifting beer from both places.
When he eventually pulled into their family home’s driveway at around 12:40 p.m, he greeted his two older daughters and then went inside the house, leaving the toddler in the hot car.
Christopher was captured shoplifting beer on the day his toddler daughter was found lifeless in the car
Image credits: News 4 Tucson KVOA-TV
Image credits: Office of the Medical Examiner Case Status
The child’s body heated up as the temperature soared to 109 degrees Fahrenheit.
Meanwhile, Christopher was inside the house watching adult videos, playing video games, and drinking beer.
The little one’s body temperature reached 108 degrees by the time she was finally found.
Her mother Erika Scholtes, an anesthesiologist, had come back home around 4 p.m. from the hospital she worked at and discovered her daughter’s limp body.
Image credits: Erika Scholtes
The father initially claimed he left the child in the car for “no more than 30, 45 minutes” with the air conditioning on because he didn’t want to wake her from a nap.
But officials eventually confirmed that the child was left in the car for about three hours.
Christopher also later admitted he knew the car would automatically switch off after half an hour.
He initially lied to officers, claiming he only left the child in the car for 30 to 45 minutes with the air conditioning on
Image credits: Law&Crime Network
Investigators also found that Christopher would regularly leave his children unattended in the car.
“I told you to stop leaving them in the car. How many times have I told you,” read a text message Erika sent her husband from inside the ambulance while Parker was being rushed to the hospital, where she was pronounced deceased.
“Babe, I’m sorry,” the father responded. “Babe, our family. How could I do this? I k***ed our baby, this can’t be real.”
“We’ve lost her. She was perfect,” texted the bereaved mother.
Image credits: Pima County Attorney's Office
Upon speaking to the couple’s older two children, investigators found that Christopher would regularly leave all three of them strapped inside the car while he went inside the house.
He also has a daughter from a previous marriage who filed a lawsuit against him and Erika in October for allegedly causing her emotional distress. She also detailed accounts of being left in cars, starting from when she was 7 years old.
Christopher's older daughters also told investigators that the father would regularly leave them alone in the car
Image credits: Erika Scholtes
“He still drinks too much beer, and he keeps leaving us in the car when my mom told him to stop doing this,” one of the daughters told investigators. “That’s how he made my baby sister d**.”
Christopher was arrested in July, 2024, for second-degree m**der but was released without bond.
He never spent a day behind bars for Parker’s passing and was even allowed by a Tucson judge to join his family on a vacation to Hawaii this year.
Image credits: KGUN9
The father accepted an agreement to plead guilty last month to second-degree m**der and felony child ab*se, and the agreement meant he faced up to 30 years behind bars.
But the father took his own life before justice could be served.
In a message to Parker’s siblings, Pima County Attorney Laura Conover said, “May you not feel tied down by what happened here, but rather lifted up by your baby sister's wings from above.”
“The only downside is that he doesn't have to spend the rest of his life knowing what he did,” one commented online
Image credits: News 4 Tucson KVOA-TV
Netizens had plenty to say about the news, with one saying, “Coward removed himself before justice could be served??”
“He offed himself out of fear. Not guilt. So don't feel bad for him,” read one comment.
Another said, “Where he’s going, it’s VERY warm.”
If you or someone you know is struggling with self-harm, help is available: International Hotlines
“He didn’t stand a chance of surviving long in prison,” one commented online
