A man who was facing imprisonment for causing the death of his two-year-old daughter by leaving her in a hot car while he watched adult movies has passed away.
The Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office in Arizona confirmed the death of Christopher Scholtes, 38, on Wednesday, without disclosing the cause of death.
Scholtes was absent from a scheduled court hearing in Pima County Superior Court, which was meant to precede his sentencing on November 21. According to the Pima County Medical Examiner, the temperature inside the car where the incident occurred was approximately 43 °C, leading to the child’s death due to heat exposure.
Having previously reached an agreement with prosecutors in October, Scholtes had agreed to plead guilty to the second-degree murder of his daughter, Parker, who tragically died in July 2024.
He was expected to serve a sentence of 20 to 30 years in prison but had been released on bail until the day of his scheduled custody transfer on Wednesday.
Following the court proceedings, prosecutors seemed visibly affected and mentioned that more information would be shared later that day.
The medical examiner’s report indicated that Scholtes passed away on Wednesday, although the location and specifics of his death were not disclosed.
Scholtes and his wife, Erika, who worked as an anesthesiologist, had recently relocated to a $1 million residence in the Phoenix suburbs, away from the property in Marana, near Tucson, where the tragic incident occurred.
Their young daughter had been left in the car with the air conditioning running while Erika was on duty at Banner University Medical Center, the same hospital where the child was taken after being found in the car.
During court proceedings, Erika defended her husband, referring to their daughter’s death as a “mistake.”
Initially pleading not guilty and rejecting a plea deal that could have resulted in a shorter sentence, Scholtes eventually accepted a harsher deal of 20 to 30 years in prison for second-degree murder and child abuse charges.
In a recent development, Scholtes and Erika were sued by their eldest daughter, now 17, for emotional distress, assault, battery, and fraud.
Text messages exchanged between the couple indicated that leaving the children in the car for extended periods was a routine practice for Scholtes, as Erika reprimanded him for this behavior while their daughter was being rushed to the hospital.
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