The Arizona dad who left his sleeping two-year-old daughter to die in a scorching car while he watched pornography, played video games, and drank beer for over three hours dodged a potential life sentence after striking a plea deal.
Christopher Scholtes, 37, pleaded guilty in Pima County Court on Wednesday to second-degree murder and intentional child abuse after leaving his toddler, Parker, to bake to death inside his Acura parked outside his Marana home during a searing 109-degree day last summer, prosecutors announced.
The careless father — who initially rejected a plea deal in March — now faces up to 30 years behind bars.
“We are grateful for the hard work and dedication of our prosecutors, victim advocates, staff for their collaboration with local law enforcement on this complicated and high-profile case,” the Pima County Attorney’s Office said in a statement.
“This is year another reminder to the community that the Pima County Attorney’s Office will do everything we can to get justice for victims and prosecute those who have caused hard to other especially those who are most vulnerable.”
Schotles’ doctor wife — who has stood by him and brushed off the tragedy as a “big mistake” — was noticeably absent from court as he confessed to the heinous July 9, 2024, killing, KVOA reported.
Prosecutors said the father was distracted playing video games, watching X-rated videos and drinking booze he’d allegedly stolen as his youngster daughter died of heat exposure in the boiling car.
Scholtes initially told investigators he left the napping tot in the car with the air conditioning pumping for 30 minutes after returning home from shopping around 12:30 p.m., insisting he didn’t want to wake her.
But court records later revealed the zoned-out dad had been inside for more than three hours — and even admitted he knew the car’s engine would automatically shut off after 30 minutes — before his wife, Erika, came home around 4 p.m. and found their little girl unconscious in his car.
The young girl was pronounced dead an hour later at Banner University Medical Center — the same hospital where her mother worked as an anesthesiologist.
Immediately after, Erika turned on her deadbeat husband in flurry of furious texts that exposed a disturbing pattern of repeated neglect, court documents showed.
“I told you to stop leaving them in the car,” the devastated mother said during the heart-wrenching exchange, in which she called her slain daughter “perfect.”
“How many times have I told you?”
The father of four later replied, admitting that he “killed our baby” and apologizing.
Scholtes’ two older daughters later told investigators that their reckless dad sometimes left them alone in the car while he “got distracted playing his game and putting away his food,” according to police records.
Prosecutors said Scholtes will spend between 20 to 30 years locked up with no chance of early release.
He was reportedly released after the court appearance and must turn himself in to authorities on Nov. 3.
He is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 21.
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