A man who was facing imprisonment for the tragic death of his two-year-old daughter, who perished in a hot car while he was engaged in watching adult content, has passed away, as confirmed by the Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office in Arizona.
Christopher Scholtes, aged 38, was marked deceased on Wednesday with the cause of death left undisclosed. He was absent from a court session at the Pima County Superior Court where he was scheduled for sentencing on November 21. The medical examiner determined that the car’s interior temperature reached approximately 43°C when emergency responders arrived, leading to the child’s death due to heat exposure.
Scholtes had previously reached an agreement with prosecutors in October, admitting guilt to the second-degree murder of his daughter, Parker, who tragically lost her life in July 2024. He was slated to serve a 20 to 30-year prison term but was allowed bail until his eventual custody on the mentioned Wednesday.
Following the court proceedings, prosecutors appeared visibly affected and promised to share more information later that day. The circumstances of Scholtes’ death on Wednesday were not detailed in the medical examiner’s report.
Christopher and his wife, Erika, who works as an anesthesiologist, had recently relocated to a luxurious four-bedroom residence worth $1 million in Phoenix suburbs, away from the site in Marana where the tragic incident occurred.
Their daughter, Parker, was left sleeping in the family car with the air conditioning running while Erika was at work at Banner University Medical Center, where the child was later brought after being found in the car.
Erika supported her husband in court, describing their daughter’s death as a mistake. Initially pleading not guilty, Scholtes eventually accepted a plea deal for 20 to 30 years in prison after rejecting a milder offer earlier.
In a recent development, Scholtes and Erika were sued by their eldest daughter, now 17, for emotional distress, assault, battery, and fraud. Text messages between the couple suggest that leaving their children unattended in the car was a recurring practice for Scholtes, as Erika had warned him against it during the incident involving Parker.
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