Speaking anonymously with Tuscon, AZ news outlet KVOA, Christopher Scholtes‘ 16-year-old daughter says her dad also left her in the car for hours when she was young.
Scholtes is now accused of felony first-degree murder in connection to the death last summer of Parker Scholtes, Christopher’s 2-year-old daughter, whom prosecutors say Scholtes left in the car for hours in nearly 110-degree Arizona heat.
Scholtes, 37, from Marana, near Tucson, pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder charges in August and said he left his daughter asleep in the car after running errands for only “45 minutes” with the AC running, so as not to wake the child up. However, after about 30 minutes, the AC turned off with the engine, a common safety feature in many vehicles.
A neighbor’s home security camera showed Scholtes arriving home with his daughter in the car around 1 PM, and that Scholtes did not discover his daughter unresponsive in the car until 4 PM. Initially, Scholtes said he got distracted putting groceries away and playing video games, according to AZ Family.
Scholtes told the police he knew from experience that the car would automatically shut off eventually. According to Scholtes’ neighbor’s home camera footage, Scholtes never checked on his daughter while she slept in the vehicle. Parker’s cause of death was heat exposure. She had a 108-degree body temperature.
“I’m surprised it didn’t happen sooner”
Speaking exclusively with KVOA, Scholtes’ eldest daughter from a previous relationship said Scholtes often left her alone in the car for hours when she was as young as 7. Referring to her half-sister’s death, the teenager said, “It makes plenty of sense, actually I’m surprised it didn’t happen sooner.”
Once, she remembered, “I had to go sit out in the car for four to five hours and continuously had to restart the car and had only eaten once that day.” Scholtes’ eldest daughter was born with Type 1 diabetes, so no food was dangerous.
She also called the time in her life when she lived with her father a nightmare, contributing to a suicide attempt. “It genuinely has changed me as a person. I will never be the same person I was before I moved into their house,” Scholtes teenage daughter said.
Scholtes’ daughter’s interview is in keeping with what his two other children, ages 5 and 9, told the police after her sister died — that their father got distracted playing video games and putting groceries away — as well as text messages from Scholtes’ wife, Erika Scholtes, telling her husband she asked him to stop leaving the children in the car.
One text message sent after the 2-year-old died read, “I told you to stop leaving them in the car, How many times have I told you.”
Meanwhile, another text message Erika sent a few months before the toddler died read in part, “You haven’t shown me you can stop putting the girls in danger or not treat me badly.”
The message added, “Even yesterday you drove home drunk with two minors….I’ve been asking for three years to cut back and it’s actually gotten worse…You replaced Cocaine with alcohol,” according to Tuscon’s KGUN9.
Another message Erika sent Christopher months before their daughter died said, “Why were you going 138 with our baby in the car?” Moreover, store security camera footage has emerged showing Scholtes shoplifting beer sometime in the past, and neighbors reported Scholtes’ children were often outdoors unsupervised.
Shopping websites and pornography
Police have also now assembled a timeline of Scholtes’ activities while his 2-year-old daughter was in the car for three hours. After searching his browsing history and digital evidence from Scholtes computer, investigators determined he played video games, shopped, texted with his wife, and spent time on an adult-content site with his daughter in the car.
No one checked for the child until around 4:15 p.m. when Erika Scholtes returned home from work. Reportedly, Scholtes searched the home for Parker, forgetting he left her in the vehicle.
Scholtes is currently out on bond awaiting trial. Referring to her father, Scholtes’ teenage daughter told KVOA, “If [CPS] would have taken away my little sisters when I was taken away, none of this would have happened. I haven’t been eating, I haven’t been sleeping. All I think about is how my father’s walking free right now.”
Published: Nov 18, 2024 02:39 pm