Inset: Christopher Scholtes (Pima County Jail). Background: The scene outside the home where Scholtes’ daughter died after he allegedly left her in a hot car (KOLD screenshot).
A 38-year-old father in Arizona charged in the hot-car death of his young daughter has been given permission by a state court judge to go on vacation to Hawaii with his wife and two surviving children. Judge Kimberly Ortiz last month granted the vacation request for Christopher Scholtes, who is currently charged with first-degree murder and child abuse in the July 2024 death of 2-year-old Parker Scholtes.
Authorities allege that Scholtes left Parker sleeping inside the family’s 2023 Acura MDX that was parked in front of their home for several hours because he got “distracted” playing video games and putting food away. It is also alleged that Scholtes regularly left the children in the car unattended.
According to a report from Tucson CBS affiliate KOLD, Ortiz’s order said the following:
“Defendant, CHRISTOPHER SCHOLTES, through counsel, hereby respectfully requests the court’s permission to travel to Maui, Hawaii from May 1, 2025, through May 9, 2025. Defendant, his wife and their two daughters will be traveling to Hawaii for a family vacation.”
The order concluded with Ortiz writing, “The travel requested is approved.”
While permitting him to travel, Ortiz’s order reportedly stipulates that Scholtes continue to stay in contact with pretrial services and have no unsupervised contact with any children
The judge’s decision did not go over well with Pima County Attorney Laura Conover, who provided a statement on the matter to Tucson NBC affiliate KVOA.
“The public record would show that the defendant and his counsel requested permission from the court to travel out-of-state,” she reportedly told the station. “Our prosecutors strenuously objected. The court granted permission over our objection.”
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As previously reported by Law&Crime, following the incident with Parker, authorities spoke to Scholtes’ two other daughters, then-ages 5 and 9, both of whom allegedly confirmed that he would regularly leave them alone in the car. In this case, they told police that Scholtes came home from running errands and then “he got distracted by playing his (video) game and putting his food away,” per KOLD.
Text messages between Scholtes and his wife, who is an anesthesiologist, also appear to show that Scholtes had a habit of leaving his children in the car unattended.
“I told you to stop leaving them in the car, how many times have I told you,” she texted him as Parker was on her way to the hospital, Tuscson NBC affiliate KVOA reported.
“Babe I’m sorry,” Scholtes reportedly responded
His wife continued, writing, “We have lost her she was perfect.”
Scholtes then responded, “Babe. our family. How could I do this. I killed our baby, this can’t be real.”
In an interview with police, Scholtes allegedly claimed that he arrived home with Parker at about 2 p.m., and didn’t take Parker out of the car because he “wanted her to remain in the vehicle while she slept.” However, footage from a security camera revealed that he arrived home at 12:53 p.m. and did not leave again. It wasn’t until his wife came home a little after 4 p.m. and asked where Parker was that he reportedly ran outside to check on her.
“Video surveillance obtained does not show Christopher [Scholtes] checking on his vehicle or daughter,” police wrote in an affidavit, according to USA Today. “When she asked where the 2-year-old was, he began to check the rooms of the home and then realized he had left her in the vehicle.”
KOLD further reported that while Scholtes told authorities he left the Acura SUV running with the air conditioner on, he also knew the vehicle had a safety feature that would turn the car off after 30 minutes.
The temperature outside was reportedly 109 degrees when the couple called 911. Parker’s mother performed CPR until emergency medical personnel arrived, but they were unable to resuscitate the toddler.
In addition to seizing the car in which Parker was left, police reportedly also seized the PlayStation gaming console that allegedly distracted Scholtes from checking on his daughter
Despite reportedly knowing that Scholtes regularly left their children in the car unattended, his wife appeared in court shortly after Parker’s death and asked the judge to allow him to come home to help with the healing process.
“This was a big mistake and I think that this doesn’t represent him,” she said, according to video obtained by KVOA. “And I just want that the girls to see their father so that I don’t have to tell them tonight that they’re going to endure another loss.”
Scholtes, who last month reportedly turned down a deal that would have required him to plead guilty to one count of second-degree murder and face up to 25 years in prison, is currently scheduled to go to trial on Oct. 27, 2025.
