Warning: Graphic content, readers’ discretion advised. This story contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some readers discretion advised.
Minutes after Christopher Scholtes and his wife, Erika Scholtes, discovered their 2-year-old daughter, Parker, had been left in a hot car, police in Marana, Arizona were on the scene with body-worn cameras recording. EMT’s tried to save Parker’s life but it was too late..
christopher scholtes was distraught when his wife came home from work on july 9th and found their daughter in a car in their driveway in morana arizona just outside of tucson.
parker was only 2 years old and scholters had left the little girl in her car seat after returning home hours earlier
christopher scholtes and his wife erica sholtes,she’s actually an anesthesiologist called 911 after erica returned home and asked where parker was and she wasn’t in the house….
police would later say that christopher scholters claimed that he checked on parker was not true, erica scholters tried to revive parker by performing CPR.
EMT s also tried to save her as christopher stood by…
christopher scholters then talks about his car,it’s parked in the driveway he said he left parker in it with the AC on just as he claimed in that 911 call.
now christopher scholtes is clearly upset and worries what parent wouldn’t be there’s no other way to put it , he’s distraught and freaking out.
scholtes submits to leaving parker in the carand it was hot outside.
this is arizona in july.
EMTs took parker out of the home but christopher scholtes wife erica she simply knew it was too late.
christopher scholtes remained in the family’s home and officers stayed with him his wife called him and told him that she wanted him to come to the hospital.
scholtes then explained why he parked in the driveway and how long parker was in the car.that statement will become important later according to police and prosecutors.
because they say parker was in the car far longer than 30 to 45 minutes and that home security video proves that parker was actually in the car for three hours.
after christopher scholtes gave a statement to the officer a first responder told him about how they tried to help parker.
after this scholtes is reminded that his dogs are actually still outside. remember it’s arizona ,and it’s july and it’s hot and he needs to get ready to go to the hospital to meet his wife.
scholtes gets the dog in the house then prepares to go to the hospital but it didn’t go as he had planned.
just to explain the officers are treating this like a crime scene so they can’t let christopher shower because at this point they really don’t know what they’re are dealing with.
they can’t let him possibly wash away evidence of a crime and he is not happy that he can not shower. the officers stay with scholtes but he wants to go to the hospital but they don’t let him leave.
at one point in the video you can hear one of the officers tell another officer about what scholtes told him about leaving parker in the car.
scholtes later tells the detective what happened.
scholtes say that he had checked on parker and the last time he had done so was around 2:30 that afternoon. his wife arrived home around 4.
scholtes told the detective he thought parker was in the house with his other children but police say his other daughters told detectives that he became distracted by his food and playing video game and that he had left the kids in the car 59 times before.
scholtes was arrested and charged with child abuse and second degree murder 3 days later….
the original complaint charging scholtes with second degree murder showed scholte’s wife sent a text message to him as parker was being taken to the hospital .
but th edetective actually asked scholtes about whether he regularly left the children in the car, this is what he said ;
no, we’re at home what would be the reason for me?”
the grand jury later met and indicted christopher scholtes on a first- degree murder charge and child avbuse.
so they upgraded the charge, he has pleaded not guilty to both charges.