An American man, Christopher Scholtes, is facing prosecution after his two-year-old girl died in his car while he was allegedly watching pornography and drinking beer in Arizona, in the US.
Prosecutors claim that Scholtes, 37, was distracted by the X-rated videos he was watching that he forgot his youngest daughter, Parker, was inside his car parked in the driveway of his home, the New York Post reports.
The weather at the time of the incident was generally hot, averaging about 109-degree (43°C), according to MailOnline.
Scholtes allegedly also played video games and drank beer as his daughter died from heat exposure inside his 2003 Acura on July 9, 2024.
Prosecutors further accused Scholtes of first leaving the child alone in the car at a service station and a supermarket on their way home.
Surveillance footage allegedly caught him stealing cans of beer at the supermarket before rejoining his daughter in the car and heading home.
After the tragic incident, Scholtes told investigators he left the sleeping child in the car with the air conditioning on for 30 minutes when they got home from shopping at around 12:30 pm because she was sleeping and he didn’t want to wake her.
The police believed he got absorbed in the porn he was watching and the video games for more than three hours.
He did not even remember Parker until his doctor wife, Erika, arrived home at 4 pm and found the child unconscious in his car.
The toddler was pronounced de@d an hour later at Banner University Medical Centre.
It was the hospital where Erika works as an anaesthesiologist.
Scholtes reportedly confessed later that he knew the vehicle’s engine would automatically shut off after 30 minutes.
Erika’s exchange with her husband after the incident showed a pattern of neglect, court documents showed.
One of the messages he sent to Scholtes read, “I told you to stop leaving them in the car”, adding, “How many times have I told you?”
Penitent Scholtes admitted that he “k!lled our baby” and apologised.
The couple’s older children told the police that Scholtes sometimes left them alone in the car while he played his game or eat.
Scholtes’ older daughter from a previous relationship, aged 16, had also been abandoned in her father’s car in the past.
The situation ended differently because she knew how to restart the car to keep the rest of the children alive, according to the 16-year-old girl’s family.
Christopher Scholtes has anger issues
It has also emerged that Scholtes has anger tantrums and repeatedly physically abused his eldest daughter, according to the Department of Child Services.
The department said Scholtes frequently slapped his daughter, threw her, and slammed her head against walls.
The negligent father now faces first-degree murder for the alleged heinous killing of his daughter.
He has pleaded not guilty, while Erika has opted to stay by his side. She called the incident a “big mistake”.
Police bodycam footage that emerged after Scholtes’ arrest showed officers trying to revive Parker after she was found in the hot car.
The video also showed the distraught father pacing up and down and crying his daughter’s name.
Also Read: Woman arrested after leaving her three children in hot car while shopping
