MARANA, Ariz. (KGUN) — A father, whose daughter died after being left in a hot car, knew the car—-and its air conditioning would shut off automatically. That is just one of the allegations in the document used to charge 37 year old Christoper Scholtes with second degree murder in the death of his daughter.
The young girl died on July 9. Marana Police originally said Scholtes left the two year old girl in the car with the air conditioning running but the air conditioning shut off. He said he had left the child in the car before and did not want to wake her because she was sleeping.
The interim complaint against Scholtes adds the detail that he knew the car would shut off automatically after 30 minutes.
According to the document, the family’s other children, aged five and nine, told police Scholtes was distracted by a video game and by putting some food away.
Scholtes wife is a medical doctor. Investigators say she came home about 4pm and asked where the two year old was. The report says Scholtes searched through the house, then remembered the girl was still in the car. By that time the car and its air conditioning had stopped.
Scholtes told police he had returned home with the girl about 2:45pm. Police found neighborhood surveillance video that showed they had returned at 12:52, almost two hours sooner.
The child’s mother tried to revive the child but could not. Police says as an ambulance rushed the child to a hospital, the mother texted Christopher Scholtes:
“I told you to stop leaving them in the car. How many times have I told you?”
Scholtes responded: “Babe, I’m sorry!”
The mother texted: “We’ve lost her. She was perfect.”
Scholtes: “Babe, our family. How could I do this? I killed our baby. This can’t be real.”
A Second Degree Murder charge is applied if someone dies after a suspect has taken actions indifferent or reckless to human life.
If found guilty of Second Degree Murder, Christopher Scholtes could face between 25 years in prison and life in prison.
