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

[iamshadow21]

Assume family will step in to care take. I imagine court and police officers will be checking on him. I can’t imagine a scenario where he won’t serve jail time. If I were him, I’d plead guilty immediately and start the sentence. Then he can be around when the kids are still at home. His life is already going to a living hell regardless. May as well get it done.

There’s a good documentary about babies being left to die in cars on Amazon Prime - Fatal Distraction. Cooper Harris’ mom is in it as well as other parents/couples. It’s amazing the forgiveness a lot of the offenders received.

I can understand forgiveness, somewhat, if it's inattention related. If the routine was distracted and there wasn't the embedded routine.

But this seems like a deliberate choice. That leaving the child in the car WAS the routine. And I'm struggling to find sympathy for someone who would do that, knowing the risks, as he must have.

MOO

 

[Rosydecember]

I can understand forgiveness, somewhat, if it's inattention related. If the routine was distracted and there wasn't the embedded routine.

But this seems like a deliberate choice. That leaving the child in the car WAS the routine. And I'm struggling to find sympathy for someone who would do that, knowing the risks, as he must have.

MOO

Agreed. Theres is definitely a difference between a sleep-deprived or routine difference vs intentional AND an older toddler. This wasn’t a baby… this was a toddler! I can’t wrap my head around this one. MOO

I am usually on the side of the parent… i remember those sleep deprived days like one big blur and I could hypothetically see a bad situation accidentally happening but in this case… I’d be hard pressed to be swayed. MOO

 

[SugarQueen]

I was the mom with the toddler that never slept. I remember being desperate for him to get some sleep. IF he fell asleep in the car and I really, really, didn’t want to wake him you know what I did? I sat in the freaking car with him so he could nap. Extremely boring back then but I knew he was safe! I never, ever, would have considered leaving him out there alone!!
I’m just stunned that it seems it was a regular occurrence for them.

 

[Artis]

Look at this:

Twin boy bakes to death after being left in hot car for SEVEN hours

Twin boy, 5, bakes to death after being left in hot car for SEVEN hours outside strip mall 'by foster mom' - the tenth tragedy this year.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[imstilla.grandma]

An affidavit alleges that Scholtes told authorities that it was not unusual for him and his wife, a medical doctor, to leave their daughter in the running car while it was parked in the garage, according to NBC affiliate KVOA of Tucson. He said he had parked in the driveway because there was exercise equipment in the garage.

He also said that he usually receives alerts if his car becomes too hot or shuts off, but he did not get any on the day of the incident, according to the affidavit.

Police said the incident is a "stark reminder of the dangers of leaving children unattended in vehicles."

Father charged with murder after 2-year-old is left in car during 109 degree heat wave for 3 hours, police say

Christopher Scholtes told police that when he arrived home his daughter was asleep in her car seat so he left her inside with the vehicle running.

www.nbcnews.com

“I’m just asking if you can allow him to come home to us so that we can all start the grieving process so he can bury our daughter with us this upcoming week and that we can go through this whole process together as a family,” Erika Scholtes begged the judge.

“This was a big mistake and this doesn’t represent him,” she added. “I just want the girls to see their father – that I don’t have to tell them tonight that they’re going to have to endure another loss. “

Wife of Arizona dad charged with murder for leaving toddler in hot car for hours calls tragic death ‘a big mistake’

“I’m just asking if you can allow him to come home to us so that we can all start the grieving process so he can bury our daughter with us this upcoming week and that we can go through …

nypost.com

 

[clorenc]

Look at this:

Twin boy bakes to death after being left in hot car for SEVEN hours

Twin boy, 5, bakes to death after being left in hot car for SEVEN hours outside strip mall 'by foster mom' - the tenth tragedy this year.

www.dailymail.co.uk

That headline feels distasteful to me.

 

[clorenc]

Look at this:

Twin boy bakes to death after being left in hot car for SEVEN hours

Twin boy, 5, bakes to death after being left in hot car for SEVEN hours outside strip mall 'by foster mom' - the tenth tragedy this year.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Just finished reading . . . Oh my God! This poor little guy was a foster kid, so he already had a tough start to life . . . And this is how it ends??

 

[iamshadow21]

That headline choice feels distasteful to me.

Very, but at a fundamental level, it's accurate.

A television PSA about not leaving dogs in hot cars out here a few years ago showed a car slowly revolving in a microwave.

It made the point.

MOO

 

[ChatteringBirds]

It's always possible a parent of a child who has just died has been prescribed medication to help cope, so you can't really tell how they are actually reacting to the situation or will down the line.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

The other case does have its own thread. I started the thread yesterday because I want to follow the trial.

NE - 5-year-old dies after being left in car for hours. Foster-mom Juanita Pinon, 40, arrested, Omaha, July 2024

https://people.com/foster-mom-of-dead-5-year-old-boy-arrested-after-he-was-left-in-car-8677061 "Child Death Investigation 07/10/2024" https://police.cityofomaha.org/press-releases https://abcnews.go.com/US/5-year-boy-dies-after-left-hot-car/story?id=111841631 A 5-year-old boy died after being...

www.websleuths.com

 

[BrownRice]

I was the mom with the toddler that never slept. I remember being desperate for him to get some sleep. IF he fell asleep in the car and I really, really, didn’t want to wake him you know what I did? I sat in the freaking car with him so he could nap. Extremely boring back then but I knew he was safe! I never, ever, would have considered leaving him out there alone!!
I’m just stunned that it seems it was a regular occurrence for them.

Exactly. I sat in my minivan so many afternoons with a sleeping toddler in the car seat. It was before smartphones so I’d usually read magazines or books. And this was even during mild weather.

 

[clorenc]

Very, but at a fundamental level, it's accurate.

A television PSA about not leaving dogs in hot cars out here a few years ago showed a car slowly revolving in a microwave.

It made the point.

MOO

Understood and agreed, but I don’t think the DM’s aim is to educate . . . Sometimes it seems they intentionally choose shock words just for clicks. But Dionicio was a real little person, not a piece of salmon. His death was gruesome, but I think he and his story deserve some dignity and respect.

 

[shesfixingherhair]

If the wife was aware of him doing this previously, WHY is she so forgiving now?

He did say they both routinely did this. She might realize she was just luckier than him.

To me, it sounds like she is either the sole provider or primary income and if he’s not home to watch the children… how will she go to work? MOO

Wouldn’t his bail conditions keep this from happening? I’d think they would have to have someone else watching the kids regardless?

 

[Artis]

The other case does have its own thread. I started the thread yesterday because I want to follow the trial.

NE - 5-year-old dies after being left in car for hours. Foster-mom Juanita Pinon, 40, arrested, Omaha, July 2024

https://people.com/foster-mom-of-dead-5-year-old-boy-arrested-after-he-was-left-in-car-8677061 "Child Death Investigation 07/10/2024" https://police.cityofomaha.org/press-releases https://abcnews.go.com/US/5-year-boy-dies-after-left-hot-car/story?id=111841631 A 5-year-old boy died after being...

www.websleuths.com

Thanks, I hadn't seen that. Just from the one article we see that this woman should never have been allowed to be a foster parent.

 

[asmi106082]

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.

Newer cars have remote starts so you can leave them running and also locked. MOO

 

[clorenc]

It's always possible a parent of a child who has just died has been prescribed medication to help cope, so you can't really tell how they are actually reacting to the situation or will down the line.

Plus, the absolute shock of it all, and having to mentally keep it together for her other daughters.

I can’t begin to assume or judge how she’s processing and/or grieving. I imagine her private moments look vastly different from what we’re seeing publicly.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Exactly. I sat in my minivan so many afternoons with a sleeping toddler in the car seat. It was before smartphones so I’d usually read magazines or books. And this was even during mild weather.

I agree that you can be just as sleep-deprived with some toddlers as when they were a baby, or you can feel desperate to let a toddler have a long nap.

But I don't understand routinely leaving a child to sleep alone in a car, though, because they will be stuck there crying for you every time they wake up, for who knows how long. That seems so cruel. You really need to just stay in the car with them or carry them out and hope they stay asleep.

Does anyone know how old the other two girls are?

 

[iamshadow21]

Understood and agreed, but I don’t think the DM’s aim is to educate . . . Sometimes it seems they intentionally choose shock words just for clicks. But Dionicio was a real little person, not a piece of salmon. His death was gruesome, but I think he and his story deserve some dignity and respect.

You're absolutely correct.

I am rarely someone who is okay with ends justifying means, but I guess I was thinking that if one single person sees that headline and is horrified by it and as a result resolves never to leave a vulnerable person or animal in a car... then it's worth it.

It's not even seasonal... Winter here, summer there, then it flips. PSAs, seat weight alarms... Nothing seems to stop it. And when it's a clear case of selfish behaviour on the part of the responsible adult, it makes me livid.

Every hot car death is avoidable.

MOO

 

[iamshadow21]

I agree that you can be just as sleep-deprived with some toddlers as when they were a baby, or you can feel desperate to let a toddler have a long nap.

But I don't understand routinely leaving a child to sleep alone in a car, though, because they will be stuck there crying for you every time they wake up, for who knows how long. That seems so cruel. You really need to just stay in the car with them or carry them out and hope they stay asleep.

Does anyone know how old the other two girls are?

Older, based on the pictures in the DM article. At least one is school age, possibly both.

 

[clorenc]

I am rarely someone who is okay with ends justifying means, but I guess I was thinking that if one single person sees that headline and is horrified by it and as a result resolves never to leave a vulnerable person or animal in a car... then it's worth it.

We’re in agreement . . . All things can be true at once! It’s a bad headline, that accurately describes an even worse factual event, that people should rightfully be aware and terrified of.