Arizona father arrested, charged in hot car death of 2-year-old daughter at own residence

PHOENIX — Three days after his 2-year-old daughter was found dead in a hot car in Marana, the father was charged Friday, authorities say.

The Marana Police Department and Northwest Fire District responded to a 4 p.m. Tuesday report of an unresponsive child at 5100 W. Paytons Court, northeast of the Interstate 10 and Cortaro Farms Road.

Christopher Scholtes, 37, said he parked the car in his home’s driveway and left his daughter inside while he entered the front door. He said the air-conditioning was on and he did not want to wake the child, who was sleeping at the time.

After an undefined period of time, the child’s mother arrived and discovered her daughter alone in a car that was no longer running. She noticed the girl was motionless, called 911 and began performing CPR until emergency responders showed up on the scene.

Northwest Fire District attempted their own life-saving techniques and the child was then taken to Banner University Medical Center. Medical personnel were unable to save the girl and declared her dead.

After receiving a search warrant, the Marana Police Department obtained video surveillance footage that revealed that the child had been left in the car for about three hours.

Authorities said Scholtes was arrested and booked into the Pima County Adult Detention on Friday morning. He was charged with second-degree murder and child abuse.

The Marana Police Department provided a reminder to community members about the dangers of leaving children unattended in vehicles, especially in the summer.

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