Charges against an Arizona father who got “distracted” playing PlayStation while his 2-year-old daughter died in a hot car have been upgraded.
Christopher Scholtes, 37, now faces first-degree murder and child abuse charges after the Pima County grand jury reviewed his case. The indictment was signed on Thursday, according to KVOA News 4 Tucson.
Scholtes’ continuous pattern of reckless behavior with his children led to the increased charges.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, on July 9, Scholtes’ toddler died in a hot car parked outside their Marana home, where she was reportedly left for three hours. Scholtes had previously been charged with second-degree murder.
His 16-year-old daughter told KVOA that her father often left her alone in the car — sometimes for hours at a time — when she was as young as seven.
“Actually, I’m surprised it didn’t happen sooner. [Once,] I had to go sit out in the car for four to five hours and continuously had to restart the car and had only eaten once that day,” she told the news outlet.
According to an interim complaint, Scholtes’ other two children, ages 9 and 5, said it was typical for Scholtes to leave them alone in the vehicle. They added that on the day in question, Scholtes “got distracted by playing his game and putting his food away” while their sister was in the car.
Marana police told KVOA that the Department of Child Safety did not inform them of Scholtes’ prior involvement with the agency.
“Prior to this investigation, DCS either did not contact us regarding the reports or the incidents did not occur within our jurisdiction. DCS has never contacted us regarding the Scholtes family, and the Marana Police Department has not received a concerning report about the family prior to this incident,” police said.
The Arizona Daily Star reported that surveillance footage showed Scholtes arriving at the Marana home three hours before emergency crews responded to that location. Scholtes allegedly told authorities that he left his daughter in the car for an hour while she slept and the air conditioning was on.
According to KPHO, the girl’s mother — a doctor — found her unresponsive in the car, which was not running. She reportedly called 911 and performed CPR until crews arrived.
It was 109 degrees in the area where the toddler died Authorities said surveillance footage indicated she was left in the vehicle for three hours, not one as her father claimed.
Scholtes’ arraignment is scheduled for next Thursday at the superior court.
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[Featured image: Christopher and Parker Scholtes/Facebook]
