Christopher Scholtes, a father who was facing imprisonment for the death of his two-year-old daughter, has passed away. The Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed his death without stating the cause. Scholtes, 38, did not appear at a court hearing in Pima County Superior Court on the same day as his scheduled sentencing of November 21. The medical examiner reported that the temperature inside the car where his daughter died reached approximately 43 °C due to heat exposure.
Scholtes had previously made a plea agreement with prosecutors in October, admitting to the second-degree murder of his daughter, Parker, which occurred in July 2024. Initially facing a sentence of 20 to 30 years in jail, he had been out on bail until the day of his scheduled custody. Prosecutors, visibly affected, left the court without further details but promised to provide more information later that day.
Scholtes and his wife Erika, who works as an anesthesiologist, had recently relocated to a $1 million home in Phoenix. The tragic incident involving their daughter took place near Tucson, where she was left in the car to sleep with the air conditioning on while Erika was at work. Erika defended her husband in court, calling their daughter’s death 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. Additionally, he and his wife were sued by their eldest daughter for emotional distress, assault, battery, and fraud.
Text messages between the couple revealed that leaving the children in the car for extended periods was a common practice for Scholtes. The tragic incident has left a profound impact on the family, with legal battles and emotional turmoil unfolding in the aftermath of Parker’s death.