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

[Vaderman]

Man, that is just a gut punch. That man will never recover. So many people are self-absorbed and worry about their own needs. Luckily, not all of those people become responsible for the death of their child. I can't even imagine what the man is going through.

 

[Sulamith]

Well the kids ratted him out. He has a pattern of negligence. I certainly hope the case goes thru the system and he is convicted. I’m sure it will make a horrible situation worse for his wife and kids, but he definitely needs to be in prison. This wasn’t a mistake. He purposefully left her in the car. AND left her iPad in there with her so if she woke up, he still wouldn’t need to get her.

His wife said he was a pillar of the community. lol.

A mistake to me is using baking powder instead of baking soda.

 

[al66pine]

This two y/o had an iPad? Of her own?

Nvm me. Re some e-devices & child rearing practices, I'm soooo far back in the cave, I'm virtually a Neanderthal.

Glad that others here can take this info in stride, not get distracted w searching online & reading about prevalence, pro's & cons, etc.

 

[photoprose1122]

But newly released court records show he fiddled with video games for more than three hours — until his horrified doctor wife came home and found the girl dead inside his car, KPLC-TV News reported.

Arizona dad ‘distracted’ by PlayStation while daughter, 2, died in hot car — as mom’s texts reveal alarming pattern: ‘How many times have I told you?’

Newly revealed court records show that Christopher Scholtes played video games for more than three hours while his toddler daughter died inside his sweltering car outside on July 9.

nypost.com

What a horrible death for such a sweet little girl. Probably crying and terrified and felt abandoned. I gotta be honest - I have no sympathy for this man. 3 hours of video games while his daughter suffered and roasted to death alone.

Sorry to be morbid - this one makes me so mad.

 

[Panniniclaus]

What a horrible death for such a sweet little girl. Probably crying and terrified and felt abandoned. I gotta be honest - I have no sympathy for this man. 3 hours of video games while his daughter suffered and roasted to death alone.

Sorry to be morbid - this one makes me so mad.

No need to be sorry. Utter disgrace.. He needs to be made an example of.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

"Video surveillance obtained does not show Christopher checking on his vehicle or daughter" before Erika got home from work a little after 4 p.m., court records say.

"When she asked where the 2-year-old was, he began to check the rooms of the home and then realized he had left her in the vehicle," according to court documents. A 911 call was placed minutes later.

"Scholtes apologized, writing: "Babe I'm sorry! ... Babe our family. How could I do this. I killed our baby, this can't be real."

A preliminary hearing has been set for Thursday, Aug. 1, which is when official charges will be announced, according to Pima County Attorney's Office spokeswoman Shawndrea Thomas.

'I killed our baby': Arizona dad distracted by video games leaves daughter in hot car: Docs

Christopher Scholtes was putting groceries away and playing video games after leaving the toddler in the car for hours amid triple-digit temperatures, records show.

www.usatoday.com

 

[browneyes]

It was over 90 degrees where I live today. I had 2 of my grandchildren, both older than this sweet baby. We made several stops and each time, I put them in the car, started the car AND AC, and then buckled them in. I didn’t want them sitting in my extremely hot car anymore than necessary. These parents are just so reckless. I worry about the other children.

 

[iamshadow21]

"Video surveillance obtained does not show Christopher checking on his vehicle or daughter" before Erika got home from work a little after 4 p.m., court records say.

"When she asked where the 2-year-old was, he began to check the rooms of the home and then realized he had left her in the vehicle," according to court documents. A 911 call was placed minutes later.

"Scholtes apologized, writing: "Babe I'm sorry! ... Babe our family. How could I do this. I killed our baby, this can't be real."

A preliminary hearing has been set for Thursday, Aug. 1, which is when official charges will be announced, according to Pima County Attorney's Office spokeswoman Shawndrea Thomas.

'I killed our baby': Arizona dad distracted by video games leaves daughter in hot car: Docs

Christopher Scholtes was putting groceries away and playing video games after leaving the toddler in the car for hours amid triple-digit temperatures, records show.

www.usatoday.com

So it's as I thought. The slight delay when the mother got home is because she came in, not knowing the child was in the vehicle, and then began looking.

I really hope the father gets a custodial sentence.

MOO

 

[NuttMegg]

The jealousies, the undercurrents, when the woman works at a top notch job and the guy stays home....yes I know raising kids is hard, it's work. I think that guy was busting at the seams with resentment. Leaving the kids in the car to get away from them. And whose exercize equipment in the garage? I bet lazy azz his. Sorry, this one's so weird, the attitudes, the texts.

 

[al66pine]

Has anyone seen an OBITUARY for this precious little girl?

 

[Herat]

The jealousies, the undercurrents, when the woman works at a top notch job and the guy stays home....yes I know raising kids is hard, it's work. I think that guy was busting at the seams with resentment. Leaving the kids in the car to get away from them. And whose exercize equipment in the garage? I bet lazy azz his. Sorry, this one's so weird, the attitudes, the texts.

<modsnip: Quoted post was removed due to no link>

I wonder if he was drug and alcohol tested that day.

 

[MsMarple]

I wonder if he was drug and alcohol tested that day.

If he wasn’t he should have been. LE did take a drink sitting on a coffee table when they searched the house so maybe someone was alert enough to check his sobriety status.

 

[mickey2942]

I wonder if he was drug and alcohol tested that day.

If he had been drunk or high, would it make a difference in the charges? People take care of kids all the time drinking and using drugs, lots of child neglect, few people get charged. I wonder if in this case, if being under the influence would make a difference.

And, once again, I see the disparity of how men are treated differently than women who do the exact same thing. Does anyone seriously think that a woman wouldn't be held over in jail for this? At least have a bond?

 

[photoprose1122]

If he had been drunk or high, would it make a difference in the charges? People take care of kids all the time drinking and using drugs, lots of child neglect, few people get charged. I wonder if in this case, if being under the influence would make a difference.

And, once again, I see the disparity of how men are treated differently than women who do the exact same thing. Does anyone seriously think that a woman wouldn't be held over in jail for this? At least have a bond?

If she left her kid in the car for three hours in 109 degree heat while she played video games, yeah she’d be held in jail.

 

[airportwoman]

I have a feeling that both of them are going to be revealed to have some rather interesting backgrounds, and not in a good way. The mom, too.

I really feel bad for the kids, all of them.

 

[callmehenry]

Jesus, he was told, over and over, including THAT DAY to stop doing it.

IMO, this is flat out Murder. He comes off as an entitled man baby. he had one job. One job. Keep his kids alive, and he not only failed, he purposefully did something he knew was illegal, even after being chastised, more than chastised, told explicitly to STOP doing it, and playing video games was more important than his child's life, safety and comfort.
He should never be around any child ever again smh

He shouldn’t have needed to be told to stop, surely it’s common sense for any responsible parent. Whether the car was on the drive or in the garage, it was never going to be safe practice. The fact the mom had to repeatedly tell him not to do that points to him having no clue whatsoever and she should have found alternative daycare for them.

 

[iamshadow21]

He shouldn’t have needed to be told to stop, surely it’s common sense for any responsible parent. Whether the car was on the drive or in the garage, it was never going to be safe practice. The fact the mom had to repeatedly tell him not to do that points to him having no clue whatsoever and she should have found alternative daycare for them.

It strikes me as being very arrogant and chauvinistic, in a way that I've seen men can be, especially when it's a woman telling them to stop.

They immediately file the alarm and reprimand from the woman in the 'ignore' pile, and continue to do the thing, with a large degree of smugness and satisfaction that they're 'getting away with' doing the thing, and wasn't she ridiculous to tell him to not do the thing, because it's fine and he was right.

And now a baby is dead.

I've mostly seen it surrounding cars, actually. Men deliberately driving dangerously to scare their partner and persisting in doing it, putting their lives at risk. I've seen it with dangerous and neglectful parenting, but never in this specific variant. I cannot fathom the degree of selfishness you have to have to put your child's life second to having a immature reaction to a very reasonable demand from your partner over that child's safety.

MOO

 

[BackseatDriver]

I know it's easy to lose the depth of feelings when texting, but the "Sorry, babe" from him feels SO nonchalant.
IMO

Absolutely. Such a bizarre exchange from both of them. I can't even imagine having the presence of mind to pick up my phone after the death of my child, let alone caused by me or my partners negligence?!

I don't know how long after her death these texts were sent. But surely after such a traumatic event you'd just be in a hole of despair. At the most doing the bare minimum to care for your other children.

 

[Bethan]

He shouldn’t have needed to be told to stop, surely it’s common sense for any responsible parent. Whether the car was on the drive or in the garage, it was never going to be safe practice. The fact the mom had to repeatedly tell him not to do that points to him having no clue whatsoever and she should have found alternative daycare for them.

TRUE of course.

Unfortunately, in my experience, some men seem to feel when left in charge of the children, that they are “doing a favour” to the Mum, or acting as an “unpaid babysitter”.

[ I say SOME men & I’m not tarring all men with the same brush. This was certainly the case in my marriage, but my own adult sons take a very different/equal, role/responsibility in the lives of their children.]

This case upsets me due to ( my perceived) similarities with my own experience. Also a professional woman, I was strongly encouraged to work when my children were tiny, to ‘keep my hand in’

Reluctantly I worked just a few hours a week, but quickly realised after a few ‘close calls’ that I needed to employ a responsible person to take care of the children in my absence.

I even needed to employ a babysitter to accompany us on holiday, if I was going to get any help, keeping the children safe in a new environment with additional hazards. We eventually divorced, but my children are now healthy adults living their best lives.

My heart goes out to this family….all of them….I’m sure there was no malicious intent, but there was irresponsible behaviour.

 

[Bethan]

It strikes me as being very arrogant and chauvinistic, in a way that I've seen men can be, especially when it's a woman telling them to stop.

They immediately file the alarm and reprimand from the woman in the 'ignore' pile, and continue to do the thing, with a large degree of smugness and satisfaction that they're 'getting away with' doing the thing, and wasn't she ridiculous to tell him to not do the thing, because it's fine and he was right.

And now a baby is dead.

I've mostly seen it surrounding cars, actually. Men deliberately driving dangerously to scare their partner and persisting in doing it, putting their lives at risk. I've seen it with dangerous and neglectful parenting, but never in this specific variant. I cannot fathom the degree of selfishness you have to have to put your child's life second to having a immature reaction to a very reasonable demand from your partner over that child's safety.

MOO

You speak so much truth.

Thank you for daring to say what I didn’t!!