Arizona girl, 2, left in car by father on 109-degree day and is found dead

[Sarahlou]

Father of 2-year-old that died in hot car arrested on charges of 2nd degree murder and child abuse

MARANA, Ariz. (KVOA) – The father of the 2-year-old girl that died in a hot car earlier this week in Marana has been arrested, according to Marana Police.

www.kvoa.com

Good!! Absolutely disgusting to leave a child in a car that long.
I very rarely think these deaths of kids in cars are accidental/not neglect. It's just hard to prove a lot of them are not.

 

[charminglane]

My immediate thought was he was busy communicating with a side chick on the gaming system.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

On that note I wonder why the older girls did not inquire about their little sister’s whereabouts.

Children would follow the lead of their parent, so if he left her in the car sleeping, they would have no reason to question it.

 

[BrownRice]

I am very confused as I haven't followed this one closely. The father claims he AND the mother leave their child in the car regularly after arriving home? For what purpose? I just don't get what is the advantage of regularly leaving your kid in the car once you've arrived home. For hours? What is the point in that?

I mean we all know it can be difficult to get your toddler to nap and if she was sleeping I can see the dad being loathe to move her and disturb her sleep, but three hours?? And we just do this regularly, like it's no big deal? And mom is a dr? WTH?

Just because he said they both did it doesn’t mean she did.

 

[Arkay]

Dad charged with MURDER after leaving his daughter in a hot car

Parker Scholtes, 2, died after she was rushed to hospital in Tucson, Arizona, after her father Chris Scholtes, 37, found her unresponsive in his car outside their home.

www.dailymail.co.uk

MSN

Charged with MURDER.

MSN source is just a blurb, DM more detailed but sometimes they have incorrect info.

 

[BrownRice]

I remember following the Cooper Harris (dad Ross) trial. Dying in a hot car is an extremely horrible death. It is not sleeping and suffocating. This little girl suffered greatly.

 

[MsMarple]

MSN

Home | Daily Mail Online

MailOnline - get the latest breaking news, celebrity photos, viral videos, science & tech news, and top stories from MailOnline and the Daily Mail newspaper.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Charged with MURDER.

MSN source is just a blurb, DM more detailed but sometimes they have incorrect info.

Dad charged with MURDER after leaving his daughter in a hot car
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13629163/Arizona-father-charged-murder-leaving-daughter-car-hot-car.html? ito=native_share_article-nativemenubutton

The article agrees with the others so it seems to be accurate.

The father studied biochemistry but no indication if he currently works or is a stay at home dad. Both parents should know better; it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand the dangers of leaving a child unattended in a running car. These people are educated and for goodness sakes mom works in a hospital!

I don’t care how many cute photos and videos the dad posted on his social media, he knowingly left his child alone for three hours! It doesn’t matter IMO if he (and maybe his wife too) thought it was okay. As noted upthread there are plenty of warnings in the news and probably posted in the hospital too. To purposely ignore them is wrong!
MOO

 

[Inthedetails]

“The child's father claimed he typically receives alerts if the car becomes too hot or shuts off, but he did not receive any such alerts on that day.”

snipped

You don't need an alert from your car.....when you bring your baby in the house with you!!

I do not understand the decision to leave the child in the car. Nope. Not at all.

He deliberately left a child in a car in JULY in ARIZONA, and then says he didn't get an alert!? Good grief.

jmo

 

[Inthedetails]

I remember following the Cooper Harris (dad Ross) trial. Dying in a hot car is an extremely horrible death. It is not sleeping and suffocating. This little girl suffered greatly.

Yep. Cooper's case is the one that made me into a Websleuther.

jmo

 

[tlcya]

Just because he said they both did it doesn’t mean she did.

agree but he has to be super dumb if he told LE that and it wasn't the case because all they have to do is ask mom if that was her practice or she was aware it was his.

 

[Ghostwheel]

I am so confused in general. Hot car or not, who leaves a sleeping child in a car in front of their house where someone could take them? It never, ever occurred to me to leave my child in the car alone, not even to bring other ones inside first, not to run into a convenience store to grab milk, just no. Yes, I have woken the older one to stumble in while I carry the younger one or vice versa depending on the day. I just never considered leaving one in the car alone for any reason. I learn something new about other people's behavior every day.

 

[MissMalowe]

Not only does he admit that both he and his wife leave her in the car regularly, they ordinarily leave the car in the garage, parked and running?! Surely a Biochemist and a Doctor of Anesthesiology have heard of carbon monoxide poisoning, yes? You can even manage to kill people *in the house* leaving the car running in an attached garage, not just the poor toddler passenger in the car.

Another thing to consider (in terms of their stupidity) if they were relying solely on their vehicle's technology/ability to alert (their phone?) that the car had powered off or was too hot, what technology (if any) did they rely on to alert them that their toddler was awake, crying, hungry, thirsty, lonely or bored while in the vehicle alone and how would they know the length of time that was going on prior to their going to the car to retrieve her usually? Guess they just figured it didn't matter how long she cried or screamed before they would decide to check on her?

Are we even sure his claims that the car was powered on & a/c going when he left it but that it powered off at some point and it didn't alert him are true? Is it possible that

1. He received the alert (on his phone?) but was too preoccupied and didn't notice it/hear it?

2. He left her in the car but forgot to keep the car running/ac going?

If his claims are true, I really hope this case doesn't morph into an additional case of their suing the car manufacterer for the "faulty alert system" they relied on as a babysitter. The only thing worse than these 2 losing a toddler to their tragic laziness & stupidity would be if they profited off it too.

 

[delaney]

My sympathies lie with the First Responders. They never get used to crimes against young children. Especially avoidable ones.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Not only dies he claim that he and his wife leave her in the car regularly, they ordinarily leave the car in the garage, parked and running. Surely a biochemistry Major and a Dictor of anesthesiology have heard of carbon monoxide, yes?

RSBM. I wonder if he was just desperately trying to tell whatever story he thought sounded best in the moment, both for LE's benefit and to protect his own self from crushing guilt?

Something like this: It was the first time I left her in the driveway, usually it's the garage, but it's usually fine, because I leave the A.C. on, and because my wife does it, too, and I normally get alerts, and don't know why this time I didn't, and...

I'm not defending him, but it sounds like trying to make excuses because the reality is too hard to admit, which isn't uncommon behavior.

 

[BrownRice]

RSBM. I wonder if he was just desperately trying to tell whatever story he thought sounded best in the moment, both for LE's benefit and to protect his own self from crushing guilt?

Something like this: It was the first time I left her in the driveway, usually it's the garage, but it's usually fine, because I leave the A.C. on, and because my wife does it, too, and I normally get alerts, and don't know why this time I didn't, and...

I'm not defending him, but it sounds like trying to make excuses because the reality is too hard to admit, which isn't uncommon behavior.

Exactly. Especially because he tried to say it was only 30 or 60 mins and that wasn’t true. I wonder if the timeline was more for the mother’s benefit (his shame of being responsible for their child’s death, so trying to make it not sound as bad). He said he got home closer to 3 than 1.

I read somewhere he said he went out and checked on her. Wonder if that’s true (irrelevant tho at end of day ).

 

[formerlyme]

It does seem awfully fast, doesn't it? And are they thinking "intentional" or accidental manslaughter?

I assume the confiscation of the devices is routine. If he said he was gaming at the time, they want to check timestamps and such, and analyze the drink for alcohol or drugs, I assume. Maybe he had a gaming addiction. It's not unusual for adults to game and get caught up for hours. Why would he lie about arrival time? Perhaps because he realized leaving her for 3 hours sounded worse than "just an hour"? I wonder if any neighbors know and can verify if she was frequently left in the car to sleep to corrorborate that claim.

negligent homicide may fit

 

[formerlyme]

Not only does he admit that both he and his wife leave her in the car regularly, they ordinarily leave the car in the garage, parked and running?! Surely a Biochemist and a Doctor of Anesthesiology have heard of carbon monoxide poisoning, yes? You can even manage to kill people *in the house* leaving the car running in an attached garage, not just the poor toddler passenger in the car.

Another thing to consider (in terms of their stupidity) if they were relying solely on their vehicle's technology/ability to alert (their phone?) that the car had powered off or was too hot, what technology (if any) did they rely on to alert them that their toddler was awake, crying, hungry, thirsty, lonely or bored while in the vehicle alone and how would they know the length of time that was going on prior to their going to the car to retrieve her usually? Guess they just figured it didn't matter how long she cried or screamed before they would decide to check on her?

Are we even sure his claims that the car was powered on & a/c going when he left it but that it powered off at some point and it didn't alert him are true? Is it possible that

1. He received the alert (on his phone?) but was too preoccupied and didn't notice it/hear it?

2. He left her in the car but forgot to keep the car running/ac going?

If his claims are true, I really hope this case doesn't morph into an additional case of their suing the car manufacterer for the "faulty alert system" they relied on as a babysitter. The only thing worse than these 2 losing a toddler to their tragic laziness & stupidity would be if they profited off it too.

the second car is it an electric tesla maybe falsely felt safe since carbon monoxide would not be an issue, but on this day he used the other car...

 

[formerlyme]

RSBM. I wonder if he was just desperately trying to tell whatever story he thought sounded best in the moment, both for LE's benefit and to protect his own self from crushing guilt?

Something like this: It was the first time I left her in the driveway, usually it's the garage, but it's usually fine, because I leave the A.C. on, and because my wife does it, too, and I normally get alerts, and don't know why this time I didn't, and...

I'm not defending him, but it sounds like trying to make excuses because the reality is too hard to admit, which isn't uncommon behavior.

rereading and no defense here but some folks here have ac in garage, maybe if the garage door to house was open, and you left the kid there while unloading groceries maybe 20 min max, but you would hear kid cry if she was in the driveway he was inside there was now ay to hear anything.

 

[Arkay]

rereading and no defense here but some folks here have ac in garage, maybe if the garage door to house was open, and you left the kid there while unloading groceries maybe 20 min max, but you would hear kid cry if she was in the driveway he was inside there was now ay to hear anything.

It crossed my mind that perhaps he’d left the garage door open, but still he cannot be absolved.
Even if that would have spared her from a carbon monoxide death, WHO would even bother to put the groceries away BEFORE securing your baby in your home?
I’ll wager that there are at minimum one crib and one playpen in the house. He could’ve safely brought her indoors and placed her in either of those if he needed a few unencumbered minutes to unload groceries.

After. After his daughter was safe. After.

IMO

 

[formerlyme]

It crossed my mind that perhaps he’d left the garage door open, but still he cannot be absolved.
Even if that would have spared her from a carbon monoxide death, WHO would even bother to put the groceries away BEFORE securing your baby in your home?
I’ll wager that there are at minimum one crib and one playpen in the house. He could’ve safely brought her indoors and placed her in either of those if he needed a few unencumbered minutes to unload groceries.
After. After his daughter was safe. After.

IMO

I agree. And I keep asking myself so what if she woke up being transferred inside