A man who was facing imprisonment for the death of his two-year-old daughter, whom he left in a hot car while watching adult content, has passed away.
The Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office in Arizona confirmed the death of Christopher Scholtes, aged 38, on Wednesday, with the cause of death remaining undisclosed.
Scholtes was absent from a court hearing at the Pima County Superior Court on the same day, scheduled before his sentencing on November 21. Reports from the Pima County Medical Examiner indicated that the car’s interior temperature reached approximately 43°C when emergency responders arrived, leading to the conclusion that the child died due to heat exposure.
Having previously reached an agreement with prosecutors in October, Scholtes had agreed to plead guilty to second-degree murder in the case of his daughter, Parker, who tragically lost her life in July 2024.
Although he was due to serve a 20 to 30-year sentence, he had been granted bail until Wednesday, when he was expected to be taken into custody.
Upon exiting the Pima County court following the hearing, prosecutors appeared visibly affected and expressed intentions to provide further details later that day.
The death of Scholtes was recorded on Wednesday, without specifying the exact location or additional circumstances, according to the medical examiner’s report.
Scholtes and his wife, Erika, a practicing anesthesiologist, had recently relocated to a $1 million four-bedroom residence in the Phoenix suburbs, an hour away from the Marana property near Tucson where the tragic incident occurred.
The couple’s two-year-old daughter, Parker, had been left in the car to sleep with the air conditioning running, while Erika was on duty at Banner University Medical Center, the same hospital where their daughter was taken after being found in the car.
In court, Erika staunchly defended her husband, characterizing their daughter’s death as a “mistake.”
Initially pleading not guilty, Scholtes had rejected a plea deal in March that could have resulted in a shorter sentence of as little as 10 years. However, six months later, he accepted a harsher deal of 20 to 30 years in prison on charges of second-degree murder and child abuse.
Recently, Scholtes was sued, along with Erika, by their eldest daughter, now 17, for emotional distress, assault, battery, and fraud.
Text message exchanges between the couple indicated that leaving their children in the car for extended periods was a common practice for Scholtes, as Erika messaged him, “I told you to stop leaving them in the car, how many times have I told you?” while Parker was being rushed to the hospital.