A concerning detail surrounding 38-year-old Christopher Scholtes, the Arizona father accused of leaving his toddler to perish in a hot vehicle, has now been confirmed:
He was browsing explicit content on his PlayStation while his 2-year-old daughter, Parker, was locked inside a 2003 Acura in 109-degree heat.
Prosecutors had previously suggested the detail, but a newly filed court motion now officially verifies that Scholtes accessed adult material during the exact window Parker was left in the vehicle parked in the family’s driveway.
Scholtes is facing two charges related to the incident. But despite confirmation of his activity, a Pima County judge has ruled that jurors will not be allowed to hear about it during the trial.
A father who left his daughter to perish inside a hot vehicle was watching adult content when it happened
Image credits: Chris Scholtes
Parker’s mother, Erika Scholtes, discovered her daughter unconscious in the family’s vehicle around 4 pm on July 9, 2024. By then, the child had been locked inside for over three hours.
Christopher Scholtes told responding officers that Parker had fallen asleep on the way home from running errands. He claimed he didn’t want to wake her and left her in the vehicle with the air conditioning on while he went inside to “unpack groceries.”
Image credits: Pima County Jail
After being questioned, he was forced to admit to police that he was aware the engine would automatically shut off after 30 minutes, disabling the airflow. He argued he had “become distracted” and forgot the child was outside.
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Parker was rushed to Banner University Medical Center, the very same hospital where her mother, an anesthesiologist, worked. She was pronounced deceased shortly after arrival.
As emergency responders attempted to revive her, Erika allegedly sent her husband a chilling text:
“I told you to stop leaving them in the car. How many times have I told you?”
Prosecutors have been barred from using the concerning detail during the suspect’s upcoming trial
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According to a motion filed by the Pima County Attorney’s Office, data from Scholtes’ PlayStation console confirms that he accessed adult-oriented material while his daughter remained trapped outside.
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Prosecutors argued the information was relevant to his mental state and level of distraction. However, Judge Kimberly Ortiz ruled that the court would exclude the evidence, stating:
“The State is precluded from any eliciting testimony in its case in chief regarding the Defendant looking for [explicit content] on the PlayStation.”
Witnesses have also been instructed not to reference it.
Image credits: Chris Scholtes
Prosecutors say that while inside, Scholtes also consumed alcoholic beverages and played video games.
Surveillance footage from earlier in the day reportedly shows him leaving Parker alone in the car on two other occasions: once at a gas station, and again at a grocery store where he allegedly stole beer.
Supporting their mother’s previous text, Scholtes’ two surviving daughters, aged 6 and 9, told investigators he had left them in vehicles before.
Scholtes’ case mirrors a similar tragedy in July, when a couple of toddlers were left in a scorching car by their mother
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Despite the severity of the case, Scholtes rejected a plea deal earlier this year that would have reduced his charge to second-degree. Days later, the court approved a controversial request allowing him to travel to Hawaii with his wife and surviving children ahead of his trial.
He has pleaded not guilty to both charges. His trial is scheduled to begin October 27 in Pima County.
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The case has been compared to a similar tragedy in Bakersfield, California, where a 20-year-old mother left her 1-year-old and 2-year-old sons in a car while undergoing a cosmetic procedure.
Only the older child survived.
Image credits: Erika Scholtes
In both cases, the adults assumed the car’s AC system would stay on. In both cases, the system shut off automatically. And in both cases, a child paid for that mistake with their lives.
Image credits: COURT TV
Experts warn that a vehicle can become deadly in just minutes. According to Safe Kids Worldwide, a child left unattended in a car passes away from heatstroke roughly every nine days in the United States.
This is because children heat up far faster than adults, and their smaller bodies are less capable of cooling down. Once the temperature inside a parked vehicle begins to climb, it can rise 20 degrees in as little as 10 minutes.
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