MARANA, Arizona –
According to recently discovered court documents, an Arizona father who was detained after his 2-year-old daughter died from being left in a hot car had left his kids in the car multiple times before the young girl’s death.
Following his daughter’s death in Marana last week, Christopher Scholtes, 37, was taken into custody.
When Scholtes got home at 2:30 p.m., he informed the police that the girl was asleep in her car seat and that he had made the decision not to wake her. When Scholtes entered the house, he allegedly left the car running and the air conditioner running.
Associated: Arizona father detained concerning toddler’s death in a heated vehicle
According to records, Scholtes admitted to police that he knew the car would shut off on its own after 30 minutes.
It wasn’t until the child’s mother got home around 4 p.m. that it was discovered the child had never been taken out of the car.
Security footage that the detectives were able to collect showed Scholtes pulling into his driveway at 12:53 p.m. Scholtes entered the house accompanied by the child’s two younger siblings, ages five and nine.
The car was parked in the middle of the sun.
A few hours later, at 4:08 p.m., Scholtes’ wife came into the family’s driveway. A few minutes later, at 4:16 p.m., a 911 call was placed. At that moment, the temperature was 109 degrees.
A Valleywise emergency physician named Dr. Frank LoVechhio stated, “I can’t over-emphasize that you shouldn’t do that.”
SEE MORE –
Shocking Death: Man Who Fatally Pushed Beautician Mom Had Recently Underwent Mental Health Treatment
According to LoVechhio, even if a parent believes the air conditioning is on, they should never leave their children unsupervised in a car. He claimed to have witnessed numerous mishaps.
According to LoVecchio, “your car’s temperature rises by one degree Celsius for the first thirty minutes if you leave it in a sunny spot.” “The inside of the car gets hot.”
Get the most recent breaking news in your area directly to your phone by downloading the 12News app.
The court filings state that Scholtes is not visible on the surveillance camera coming outside to the vehicle to check on the young child between 12:53 and 4:08 p.m.
According to the documents, when police spoke with the two elder children of the Scholtes, they learned that he “regularly” left them unattended in the car.
The children said Scholtes “got distracted by playing his game and putting food away” when their sister was in the car, according to the statement.
Scholtes’s wife texted him while the two-year-old girl was being taken to the hospital.
The text said, “I told you to stop leaving them in the car, How many times have I told you.”
In response, Scholtes said, “Baby, I’m sorry.”
After that, his wife said, “We’ve lost her, she was perfect.”
In response, Scholtes said, “Baby our family. How am I able to accomplish this? I killed our child—this isn’t possible.”
Second-degree murder, domestic abuse of a child, and domestic violence are the felonies against Scholtes.
Debra Nolen stated, “I don’t think there’s ever a good time to leave a dog or a child in a car.”
Don’t Leave Me’s originator, Nolen, also wrote the rule allowing someone to smash a window in a car if a child or animal is in danger.
She advised calling 911 first and making sure there was no other practical way to remove the child or animal.
“In our situation, once you report something, you need to take action to remove the child or dog from the backseat of the car,” Nolen said. “If you see something, say something.”
