“I told you to stop leaving them in the car, how many times have I told you?” the wife of the man now charged with murder texted him — before he replied, “I killed our baby, this can’t be real.”
A father in Arizona — who has been charged with murder for leaving his 2-year-old daughter in a hot car for hours — was reportedly “distracted” by playing a video game as his daughter suffered in the vehicle.
And according to a text message from his wife, this wasn’t the first time he left one of their children alone in the car.
On July 12, Christopher Scholtes, 37, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder and child abuse after his 2-year-old daughter died on July 9 from being left in a car in extremely high temperatures, according to a press release shared by the Marana Police Department.
Anchorage Police Department / AP
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Authorities said Scholtes told them he left his daughter in the car because she was sleeping and he didn’t want to wake her, claiming he left the air conditioning on in the vehicle. When Scholtes’ wife came home “approximately three hours” later, the car was off and the 2-year-old was unresponsive. After first responders performed “life-saving measures,” the toddler was rushed to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Scholtes was arrested and charged.
New information surrounding the incident was revealed in an interim complaint obtained by local Tuscon outlets KOLD and KVOA.
According to the complaint, Scholtes had left all of their children alone in the car on multiple occasions in the past. And when his daughter was sleeping in the hot car, his other children said, “He got distracted by playing his game and putting his food away.”
A PlayStation and the vehicle, a 2023 Acura MDX, were taken by the Marana Police Department, KOLD reported.
While their daughter was being taken to the hospital, Scholtes and his wife exchanged text messages about the incident, which were featured in the complaint.
“I told you to stop leaving them in the car, how many times have I told you?” his wife texted, per the document, to which Scholtes replied, “Babe, I’m sorry.”
Scholtes’ wife then messaged, “We’ve lost her, she was perfect,” to which Scholtes’ responded, “Babe our family. How could I do this? I killed our baby, this can’t be real.”
Scholtes told authorities that he was aware that his car had a safety feature that could turn the engine off after 30 minutes, citing his previous experience, per KOLD.
The complaint also stated that it was 109 degrees outside when Scholtes and his wife called 9-1-1. The vehicle was reportedly also parked in direct sunlight, noting that the 2-year-old’s car seat was on the driver’s side of the car.
Scholtes allegedly admitted that he decided to park outside instead of in the garage as he usually did because gym equipment was in the way.
Also in the complaint, Scholtes claimed he arrived home from running errands with his daughter around 2 p.m. However, security footage shows that he returned home shortly before 1 p.m., and his wife arrived at 4 p.m. After searching for the 2-year-old child in the house, they went outside to the car, and found their daughter unresponsive in the back seat.
During his appearance in court on July 12, Scholtes pleaded not guilty, according to KOLD. While the state asked for a $1 million bond, the judge denied the request to set it at that amount.
According the outlet, Scholtes’ wife told the court that her husband is not a risk to their community, and she wants him at home with her and their other children so they can start the mourning process.
“This was a big mistake and I think that this doesn’t represent him,” she said, according to 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.”
A preliminary hearing has been set for August 1.
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