Parker Scholtes death: Arizona father charged with murder after leaving toddler in car in 42C weather

On Tuesday (9 July) shortly after 4pm local time, firefighters and officers from the Marana Police Department were called to a property after a child was found unresponsive in a vehicle. Attempts were made to resuscitate the child and she was transported to hospital, where she was sadly pronounced dead.

More information was released later in the day, where the force confirmed the two-year-old’s father had arrived home while she was asleep in the car. He left her inside to sleep in her car seat with the air conditioning running and went inside. Parker’s mother also returned home several hours later and discovered the tot inside. The vehicle was no longer running and the AC had turned off, and she called 911 immediately.

On Friday, 37-year-old Christopher Scholtes was charged with second degree murder and child abuse. Marana Police said surveillance footage showed the child, named locally as Scholtes’ two-year-old daughter Parker, had been in the car for about three hours. The father has been transported to Pima County Adult Detention Center until he appears in court.

The force said that the tragic incident was a stark reminder of the dangers of leaving children unattended in vehicles - especially with Arizona and other parts of the western US experiencing intense heatwave conditions in recent days. Metro reports that local temperatures reached 109 degrees Fahrenheit (or 42 degrees Celsius) the day young Parker died.

“The temperature inside a vehicle can rise rapidly, even on relatively mild days, leading to potentially fatal outcomes within minutes,” the police department added. “We urge all parents and caregivers to remain vigilant and take every precaution to ensure the safety of their children. The Marana Police Department and our entire community feel this heartbreaking loss, and our thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected by this tragic incident.”

Tragically, Parker has not been the only child to die in Arizona’s recent extreme temperatures. Police are also investigating after a four-month-old baby died from heat-related illness after she was taken on a boat trip by her parents at Lake Havasu on 5 July.

There was an excessive heat warning was in force for the area at the time, and temperatures around Lake Havasu that day reaching 120 degrees Fahrenheit (nearly 49 degrees Celsius), according to the US National Weather Service.