An Arizona resident has admitted guilt in a tragic incident involving his 2-year-old daughter, who was left inside a van in 2024. On Wednesday, Christopher Scholtes, aged 38, entered a guilty plea as part of an agreement with Pima County prosecutors.
The Pima County Attorney’s Office announced that Scholtes confessed to second-degree murder and intentional child abuse likely to result in death or serious injury, stemming from the heartbreaking death of his daughter, Parker Scholtes, on July 9, 2024.
As reported by The Arizona Republic, back in March 2025, Scholtes turned down a plea bargain for second-degree murder, which would have resulted in a prison sentence ranging from 10 to 25 years without parole eligibility. More details on the case can be found here.
Scholtes is now facing a potential 30-year prison term when he appears for sentencing in November. The Attorney’s Office confirmed that the sentences for both charges will be consecutive, with no chance of parole.
According to CrimeOnline’s earlier report, Parker was left in a vehicle parked in the driveway of the family’s Marana home, where outside temperatures soared to 109 degrees.
Scholtes has maintained that he left the air conditioning running and that he never intended any harm to his daughter.
Scholtes’ other two children, ages 9 and 5, said Scholtes usually left them alone in the vehicle to play. On the day of the incident, Scholtes got distracted while their sister was still in the car, the children said.
The timeline of events Scholtes gave investigators did not match security video obtained from a neighbor. The video confirmed Scholtes left Parker in the vehicle for three hours, not one hour, as he had claimed.
Scholtes also claimed he arrived home with the children at around 2 p.m., but security footage showed the vehicle arriving at 12:53 p.m. and not leaving again.
Before he returned home, he allegedly stole alcohol from a store. When he returned to the residence, he watched pornography, played video games and sent his wife text messages, Tucson.com reports.
At around 4 p.m. that day, Scholtes’ wife, Dr. Erika Scholtes, arrived home, discovered Parker unresponsive and performed CPR. She then called 911.
Scholtes claimed his phone was supposed to ping when the car overheats or shuts off, but that didn’t happen.
“I told you to stop leaving them in the car. How many times have I told you?” Scholtes’ wife later said in a text message.
Scholtes’ only criminal history is a DUI charge from 15 years ago.
Sentencing is scheduled for November 21 and will be handed down by a Pima County Superior Court judge.
Check back for updates.
[Feature Photo: Christopher and Parker Scholtes/Facebook]
