Chilling new particulars of father’s dying a day earlier than going through justice for leaving his daughter, 2, to die in a sizzling automobile

A father took his own life with carbon monoxide poisoning the day before he was to be jailed for leaving his toddler to die in a hot car, a medical examiner has confirmed.

Christopher Scholtes was found dead about 5.20am on November 5 at the $1 million home in Phoenix he shared with his wife, Dr Erika Scholtes.

The day after his suicide, he was supposed to begin a 20 to 30-year prison sentence for the second-degree murder of his daughter Parker, two, who died in July 2024.

Phoenix police and the Maricopa County Medical Examiner told the Daily Mail in the days that followed how he was believed to have died, and have now confirmed it.

A summary report by medical examiner Daniel Casa revealed chilling details of the scene Erika’s and the couple’s live-in nanny stumbled upon about 5.20am.

Scholtes, 38, was found ‘unresponsive in a running car in his garage’, Casa wrote, followed by a detailed description of how the killer dad took his own life.

The make and model of the car were not listed, but a neighbor earlier told the Daily Mail he was found in his beloved red Honda S2000 convertible.

A suicide note was left inside the house and Scholtes left a living will on the roof of the car in case his attempt to kill himself failed, the report revealed.

Casa wrote that a rope and ladder were also arranged in the garage suggesting Scholtes had a second method of suicide.

Whether he tried that method before he got in the car and failed, or assembled them as a backup in case carbon monoxide failed, is unclear.

The killer dad was found with a blood carboxyhemoglobin level of 80 percent – far higher than the two to three percent of a healthy non-smoker.

Marijuana, caffeine, and diphenhydramine – the active ingredient in cold and flu medications like Benadryl – was also found in his blood.

Casa cataloged Scholtes’ long list of health conditions, including depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and ADHD, plus cocaine, alcohol, and marijuana use, and a degenerative joint disease.

‘He reportedly made suicidal statements after the death of his daughter, and he had recently exhibited a depressed mood,’ Casa wrote.

The report noted that Scholtes was ‘under stress’ due to his criminal case and he was expected to report to prison on the day he was found dead.

Casa’s report matches a neighbor’s visceral account to the Daily Mail of the moments after Scholtes was found.

‘They were all standing looking at the car and he was already in the car dead at that time,’ said the neighbor, who had a clear view of the chaotic scene through the open garage door.

‘All of a sudden [Erika] started walking around and this other lady pulled up all frantic and they ran up to the door. Then the police and the fire department showed up.

‘I don’t know how far [the fumes] went into the house, but the kids were there, the family was there. It could have been bad.’

Scholtes killed himself 16 months after Parker died in the back seat of the family car in the driveway of the former family home in the Tucson suburb of Marana, Arizona, where he left her in 90F heat.

The unemployed father left his youngest daughter napping for three hours in the boiling hot family car while he drank beer, played video games, and watched porn as she slowly died. 

He told police that he left Parker in the car with the engine running and the air-conditioning on because she was asleep when they arrived home.

However, he lost track of time and the engine automatically shut off after about 20 minutes – as police testing confirmed. 

Crime scene photos obtained by the Daily Mail show tiny handprints on the inside of the window in the blue family 2023 Acura MDX.

The haunting marks on the rear driver’s side window were just inches from where Parker’s forward-facing car seat was buckled in.

Police testing found the surface temperature of the car seat was 149.1F, according to detailed incident reports by the Marana Police Department. 

Parker was only found when Erika came home from work at Banner University Medical Center in Tucson – where the toddler was declared dead an hour later. 

Erika now works as an anesthesiologist at Banner’s Phoenix hospital.

Scholtes’s two surviving daughters described to detectives the frantic moment before the couple realized where Parker was and sprinted to the car.

‘[One of the girls] said when her mom got home she asked, “Where’s the baby?” and her dad said, “Where’s the baby!?” and ran outside,’ one officer wrote.

‘”My dad started screaming cause he walked outside and he saw that she was in the car still, her lips were purple and she wasn’t breathing.”

‘When they saw her mom and dad crying, they knew Parker was dead.’

Erika continued to stand by her husband up to his suicide – petitioning the court for his release and for permission to take a holiday to Maui, and buying a stunning $1 million four-bedroom, 2,369sqft Italian villa-style family home in Phoenix in April.

The widow has kept a low profile since her husband’s suicide and was joined by family for a somber Thanksgiving at her home in Phoenix.

Erika was seen packing away Halloween bits and putting up Christmas decorations with the help of her stepfather Darrin King and another young man. 

Scholtes rejected a plea deal in March that would have seen him serve up to 10 years behind bars.

Just six months later, Scholtes had no choice but to accept a far worse deal to plead guilty to second-degree murder and be jailed for 20 to 30 years without parole.

But he was allowed to stay out on bail until November 5 when he would be taken into custody, and used that time to plan his suicide.

If you or someone you know needs help, please call or text the confidential 24/7 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in the US on 988. There is also an online chat available at 988lifeline.org.