(NewsNation) — A father of a 2-year-old daughter who died after spending more than three hours in a hot car has been charged with first-degree murder.
Christopher Scholtes, 37, was initially charged with second-degree murder before a grand jury charged him with first-degree murder, as well as child abuse, last Thursday, per KGUN.
Despite efforts from her mother and first responders, Parker Scholtes died at approximately 4:15 p.m. on July 9 and was discovered by Scholtes’ wife and her mother, Erika, outside their home in Marana, Arizona.
Erika alleged the AC and vehicle were both turned off. According to the Pima County Medical Examiner, Parker’s body temperature reached 108.9 degrees.
Scholtes told police he left the AC on, but it shut off, along with the vehicle, as he went inside the home. His reason for leaving her in the hot car was that she was already asleep, and he did not want to wake her.
Authorities used surveillance cameras to discover Scholtes had left Parker, one of his three children, in the car from around 12:50 p.m. Scholtes had told police that he had arrived at his residence around 2 p.m.
According to case documents cited by The Mirror, Scholtes “got distracted playing his game and putting his food away.”
KOLD reported that Scholtes’ other daughters — aged 5 and 9 — said they were all left in the car routinely.
Scholtes told investigators that he usually parked the vehicle in the garage, but exercise equipment prevented him from doing so on this occasion.