Arizona Dad Christopher Scholtes Found Dead Ahead of Sentencing in the Murder of His 2-Year-Old Daughter

The now-deceased father had a reported history of abuse and negligence with his other kids, one of whom filed a lawsuit against him.

A 2024 tragedy that ensued in a community northwest of Tucson ended in the death of a two-year-old girl. Her father, held responsible for her demise and set to be sentenced, has now been found dead.

The update, which comes over a year after the incident, was disclosed by Pima County Attorney Laura Conover during a press briefing on November 5, 2025.

Blazing Heat, a Silent Car… and a Child Left to Die

The horror unfolded just after 4 p.m. on a scorching Tuesday afternoon in Marana, Arizona, when police were alerted to an unresponsive child inside a parked vehicle. Responding officers and paramedics from the Northwest Fire District rushed to the quiet residential neighborhood, where they found little Parker Scholtes unconscious inside her father's car.

Despite desperate life-saving efforts on the scene and en route to the hospital, Parker was later pronounced dead. According to authorities, Parker's father, Christopher Scholtes, told police that he had returned home earlier that day and decided not to wake his sleeping daughter.

He claimed to have left the car running with the air conditioning on while he went inside the house, intending to let her rest. But when he returned about 30 minutes to an hour later, the vehicle was off. By then, his daughter was motionless.

When Parker's mother — Dr. Erica Scholtes — arrived home, she discovered the car silent, the air stagnant, and her child unresponsive. The panic that followed was captured in a haunting 911 call made by Christopher.

"No! 9-1-1, 9-1-1, please!" he cried. "My baby was in the car. She's not responsive. Oh my God, oh my God!" "And this was in the driveway?" questioned a dispatcher, to which Christopher could be heard responding, "Yes." "Is she still breathing?" the responder asked. "No, she's not breathing right now," Christopher's frantic voice rang out.

"Ok. We need to start CPR right now," the dispatcher then instructed, to which Chrisopher said, "Yes, we are. We're starting CPR, yes." "I need to hear CPR. I need them to count it out for me. One, two, three," the responder retorted.

Christopher repeated the counts, adding, "My wife's a doctor. She's home." At another point, Erica asked her husband what had happened, to which Christopher recounted how the car had turned off.

"Is she breathing yet?" the responder then questioned, to which both Christopher and Erica replied, "No!" "Oh my God! Baby, baby!" exclaimed the father. As dispatchers continued to guide the parents through CPR, Erica could be heard rapidly counting chest compressions, "Three, four, five, six, seven, eight."

Although Christopher claimed to have returned to the car 30 minutes to an hour after her left his daughter in there, surveillance footage from nearby homes revealed she had been inside the car for approximately three hours, with temperatures outside soaring to about 109 degrees.

When authorities recorded her body temperature, it registered at a fatal 108 degrees. Police arrested Christopher on a Friday, charging him with second-degree murder and child abuse.

Detectives said evidence suggested he became distracted after going inside — reportedly by video games and putting away food — while his daughter remained trapped in the sweltering car.

Pima County Attorney Laura Conover Provides Update on Christopher Scholtes

Many months after Parker's tragic death, her father's story came to an abrupt and haunting end. Christopher was found dead before he was due in court. "Because we have received so many media inquiries this morning, I will deliver the following information to the best of our ability and knowledge at this hour," Laura began.

She recounted the extensive work of Marana Police detectives and her office's veteran prosecutors, who had uncovered the full scope of what happened on that hot July day.

The attorney explained that, following the investigation, a Pima County grand jury had indicted Christopher for first-degree murder based on the evidence of child abuse. "We expected to be in court this morning," Laura said, noting that Christopher had accepted a plea agreement for second-degree murder — a conviction that could have carried a sentence of up to 30 years in prison.

"But instead of coming in to take account for what has occurred here," she continued, "we have been informed and we have confirmed that the father took his own life last night."

Laura then extended heartfelt condolences to those affected by the compounded loss. "This is obviously extraordinarily complicated, and we extend our deepest sympathies and sorrow to all the loved ones who have suffered the loss of this beautiful baby girl, and now another loss to his family," she stated.

"This little girl's voice was nearly silenced because justice was not served appropriately this morning," Laura noted, "but it has not and will not be silenced due to the hard work of the people who work here at the Pima County Attorney's Office."

The briefing ended on a deeply human note, as Laura addressed Parker's surviving siblings directly — words that echoed with compassion and hope amid tragedy.

"May you be surrounded by love. May you receive all of the support you deserve and need, and then some. May you know and believe that you can survive and thrive," she expressed. "And when you look back on this time as the years follow, may you not feel tied down by what happened here, but rather lifted up by your baby sister's wings from up above."

Disturbing Revelations and Details

In the wake of Christopher's death, previously sealed or little-known details about his conduct in the days leading up to Parker's passing have come into sharper focus — painting a picture of alleged negligence that extended far beyond a single catastrophic mistake.

According to a motion for admissibility obtained by People, prosecutors claimed that Christopher had used his PlayStation to search for pornography while his daughter lay trapped in the sweltering car outside. However, Judge Kimberly Ortiz ultimately barred the evidence from being introduced at trial.

In her ruling, she added that any witnesses called to testify were likewise prohibited from referencing the "two-minute search" conducted on July 9, 2024.

This was not the only detail prosecutors attempted to bring to light ahead of the trial. Interviews conducted with Christopher's two surviving daughters, who were six and nine at the time, revealed troubling patterns of behavior.

Both girls allegedly told investigators that their father had left them alone in a vehicle on previous occasions — a pattern that Christopher's wife also appeared to acknowledge in a text sent as Parker was being rushed to the hospital. "I told you to stop leaving them in the car," Erica wrote. "How many times have I told you?"

Earlier in the year, Christopher had entered a not guilty plea to charges of first-degree murder and child abuse, rejecting an earlier plea deal before eventually agreeing to a lesser second-degree charge. Additionally, the judge had permitted him to travel to Hawaii with his wife and daughters in the months before his trial.

A Lawsuit and a Daughter's Painful Accusation

But the tragedy didn't end with Parker's death. Even before his demise, Christopher faced mounting allegations of abuse and negligence that extended beyond the loss of his youngest child. In October, his teenage daughter filed a lawsuit in Maricopa County, accusing both Christopher and her stepmother, Erica, of emotional distress, assault, battery, and fraud.

"The first time he did it [left a child in a hot car] was with me when I was younger than seven," the teen reportedly told News 4 Tucson. The complaint, filed through her former guardian, Lindsay Eisenberg, details years of physical, emotional, and psychological abuse spanning from 2016 to 2021.

According to Lindsay, the teenager had made multiple complaints to the Arizona Department of Child Safety between 2014 and 2020 — allegations that were investigated but never substantiated.

Still, the daughter insists her experiences were real and deeply damaging. "It genuinely has changed me as a person," she disclosed. "I will never be the same person I was before." The lawsuit seeks more than $50,000 in damages and remains unresolved following Christopher's death.

Beer, Theft, and a Chilling Confession

As investigators dug deeper into the circumstances surrounding Parker's death, a fuller — and darker — picture began to emerge. Police body cam footage captured the moment officers approached Christopher in his home to place him under arrest. Visibly distraught, he broke down in tears. "So, I'm being treated like a murderer?!?" he cried, before adding, "I just lost my baby."

The officer responded calmly, "I know that, and I know this isn't easy for you. That's why I'm trying to be straightforward and honest with you, ok?"

The emotional spiral intensified as evidence continued to surface. According to documents, Christopher had made a chilling admission to his wife in the aftermath, "Babe, I'm sorry! How could I do this. I killed our baby, this can't be real [sic]."

Reportedly, during a court appearance, Erica had staunchly defended her husband, dubbing their daughter's death a mistake on his part. Still, Parker's older siblings also spoke to police, confirming that they had repeatedly been left alone in vehicles — sometimes all three at once.

"He still drinks too much beer, and he keeps leaving us in the car when my mom told him to stop doing this," one of the girls said. "That's how he made my baby sister die."

Security footage and witness testimony further revealed that, on the day of Parker's death, Christopher had stopped at a gas station and a grocery store, where he left her alone in the car while he shoplifted beer — some of which he reportedly consumed while his daughter was dying just outside.

At this time, we wish to extend our most heartfelt condolences to Parker's mom, older sisters, and loved ones who are mourning such a significant loss. We hope for their healing, as they grieve. RIP, sweet Parker. Your angel wings came far too soon.