Appalling new claims in opposition to dad who left daughter to die in scorching automotive

A dad played his PlayStation while knowingly leaving his two year-old daughter in a hot car to die in 109F heat, police allege.

Christopher Scholtes, 37, was arrested on Friday and charged with second-degree murder and child abuse after Parker Scholtes’ death.

The games console was seized during a search of his home in Marana, north of Tucson, Arizona, last week.

Scholtes told police that he left his daughter in her car seat inside the vehicle because he did not want to wake her up, according to a criminal complaint obtained by DailyMail.com.

He said he’d left her in the family’s blue Honda Acura SUV for around 30 minutes after arriving home at 2.30pm, police alleged.

But new evidence put forward by prosecutors suggests the little girl was actually in the car for three hours in direct sunlight.

Christopher Scholtes, 37, was arrested on Friday and has been charged with second-degree murder and child abuse over Parker’s death. He is seen with Parker, her two older sisters and his wife Erika

His wife Erika Scholtes, a doctor at the hospital where Parker was declared dead, arrived home at 4.08pm and asked where her daughter was, then found her in the car, police said.

As Parker was rushed to the hospital, she texted him saying: ‘I told you to stop leaving them in the car, how many times have I told you.’

She later added: ‘We’ve lost her, she was perfect.’ 

Scholtes replied: ‘Babe I’m sorry! How could I do this. I killed our baby, this can’t be real.’ 

Scholtes’ two other children, aged nine and five, told police that Scholtes had left all three siblings alone in the vehicle regularly

Scholtes’ two other children, aged nine and five, told police their father regularly left all three siblings alone in the vehicle.

The kids told police Scholtes ‘got distracted by playing his game and putting his food away’ as Parker was dying in the car, according to the complaint.

The father-of-three told police he left the air conditioning in the Acura running but knew it would automatically shut off after about 30 minutes, based on previous experience.

Scholetes told police he got home with Parker about 2.30pm, but surveillance footage from neighbors’ cameras showed his car arrived at the house about 12.53pm.

The cameras also showed Scholetes never went outside to check on Parker until his wife arrived home and asked where she was, police alleged.

Minutes later they found Parker unresponsive in the back of the car and a 911 call was made at 4.16pm, when the temperature was 109F.

A PlayStation and other electronics taken by authorities, as reported by KPTV. 

On Monday, Erika Scholtes, an anesthesiologist, called her daughter’s death a ‘big mistake’ as she begged a Tuscon judge to reconsider holding her husband until his next hearing in August.

A 911 call was made at 4.16pm, when the reported temperature was 109 degrees. Parker is pictured

Parker was left in this blue Honda Acura SUV seen behind the police tape earlier that same day. The conditions of his release include that he stay away from alcohol or illegal drugs, as well as any firearms

Erika Scholtes, 35, works as an anesthesiologist at the same hospital her daughter was rushed to on Tuesday. She successfully called for her husband’s temporary release on Friday, hours after his arrest. He is charged with murder

The judge upheld the doctor’s request – agreeing to release the suspect until his next hearing next month so he can ‘start the grieving process’ with his relatives. 

‘I’m just asking if you can allow him to come home to us so we can all start the grieving process,’ Erika said during a remote appearance at her husband’s scheduled hearing.

She explained it would be ‘so that he can bury our daughter with us this upcoming week, and [so] that we can go through this poor process together as a family’.

Scholtes told cops that when he arrived home, Parker (pictured together) was asleep in the back seat and he didn’t want to wake her, making him elect to leave her in the car despite the extreme heat

‘This was a big mistake and I think that it doesn’t represent him,’ the mom-of-two continued.

‘I just want that the girls to see their father so that I don’t have to tell them tonight that they’re going to endure another loss.’

The defense proceeded to point out how Scholtes lacked a criminal history – aside from a DUI charge from 15 years ago.