A two-year-old died of heat exposure inside a hot car after her father left her in the driveway on a scorching day, her autopsy confirmed.
Parker Scholtes was found dead in the blue 2023 Honda Acura SUV about 4.15pm on July 9 outside the family home in Marana, north of Tucson, Arizona.
Her father Christopher Scholtes, 37, was charged with second-degree murder and child abuse after police found he left her in the car to nap for three hours.
The Pima County Medical Examiner said the temperature inside the car was 108.9F when first responders arrived.
The autopsy conducted on July 10 confirmed Parker died from environmental heat exposure and the report listed the manner of death as ‘accident’.
Christopher Scholtes, 37, was 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
Parker Scholtes, 2, died in a hot car in front of her home after she was left there for allegedly three hours on a 109F day
Scholtes told police he left Parker in her car seat inside the vehicle with the engine running and air-conditioning on because he did not want to wake her up.
He claimed she was there less than an hour after they arrived home, but CCTV footage revealed it was more than three hours in direct sunlight, according to a criminal complaint obtained by DailyMail.com.
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.
Scholtes’ two other children, aged nine and five, told police that Scholtes had left all three siblings alone in the vehicle regularly
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 their father regularly left all three siblings alone in the car.
The kids told police Scholtes ‘got distracted by playing his game and putting his food away’, according to the complaint.
A PlayStation and other electronics were taken away as evidence by police.
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.
A 911 call was made at 4.16pm, when the reported temperature was 109 degrees. Parker is pictured
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
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.
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.
The judge upheld the doctor’s request – agreeing to release him until his next hearing on Thursday so he could ‘start the grieving process’ with his relatives.
Parker was left in this blue Honda Acura SUV seen behind the police tape earlier that same day
Erika Scholtes, 35, works as an anesthesiologist at the same hospital her daughter was rushed to on the day she died
‘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’.
‘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.
He was also charged with assault but the allegation was withdrawn.
