A grand jury has indicted Christopher Scholtes, the father of the 2-year-old girl who died after being left in a car for hours, for first-degree murder.
Charges were handed up from a grand jury Thursday, Aug. 1, and include one felony count of murder in the first degree and one felony count of child abuse.
Marana Police had previously charged Scholtes with second degree murder for the death, which occurred on July 9.
The indictment reads:
On or about July 9, 2024, Christopher Scholtes, under circumstances likely to produce death or serious physical injury, committed child abuse by intentionally or knowingly, causing [redacted], a minor under fifteen, to suffer physical injury...by leaving [redacted] unattended in the vehicle.
According to the Marana Police investigation, MPD used surveillance cameras to determine Scholtes had left his daughter in the car in the driveway from about 12:50 p.m. until about 4 p.m., when the mother returned home to discover the young girl still in the car.
Scholtes had told police during the investigation he left his daughter there with the air conditioning on because she'd been sleeping—something he revealed he had done before.
On the day she died, the car and air conditioning had shut off after Scholtes went into the house.
KGUN 9 will continue following this case as it develops.
UPDATED: Previous edition said the charges were "handed down."
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