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

[NuttMegg]

I am trying to catch up with all the posts since I left earlier, but in terms of the below, is the consensus that he forgot she was out there? ​

Father knew A/C in car would shut off in half hour​

'How could I do this?': He left his daughter in a hot car for hours. She died

Marana police say Christoper Scholtes, 37, intentionally left his daughter in the car that afternoon and had done so before.

www.azcentral.com

Well, an alternative could be that it was 100% intentional, that he remembered she was out there but needed just one more game or competition, lost track of time but didn't "forget". Then when ES got home he pretended to look for Parker.

Hard to believe a dad would forget about the baby, but forgetting is the charitable choice.

I don't know what to think. Another possibility is that he was drinking or on drugs, and didn't forget, but was out of it. LE should be able to tell if there was constant activity on the device, no? Does PS5 use home wifi? I wonder if he told the other girls not to bother him.

 

[tlcya]

forgotten baby syndrome - why lie then when recounting to LE and say he only left her there for an hour or so when it was actually 3?

ETA also, if it was his regular practice to leave her in the car you would think he would be MORE likely to remember having left her there, not less. JMO

I do agree it will probably be pled down.

 

[SMK777]

I think he’s claiming he forgot she was in the car for three hours. I’m not sure exactly how he explained it but it seems like he’s saying he planned to get the girl from the car when the app alerted that the car engine turned off.

Except he said he didn’t receive the notice. All I’ve been able to find is this:

Scholtes left the car running with air conditioning and "wanted her to remain in the vehicle while she slept," he told police, according to the documents.

The A/C automatically shuts off after 30 minutes, something Scholtes knew, the documents say.

Scholtes didn't realize he had forgotten about leaving his daughter in the hot car until after his wife Erika returned home from work a couple hours later, asking where the toddler was. The couple found the 2-year-old unresponsive and "still strapped in her child restraint system."

'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 IOW some variation of Forgotten Baby Syndrome. Something like he planned to bring her in within a half hour but became distracted. I don’t know if that would fly but given the right expert who knows how a jury would react? He appears to be a loving, family oriented father, at least on social media, which might cause a hurdle for the prosecution.

That’s why I wonder if he’ll be offered a plea deal.
MOO

Thanks for that. I see what you mean. It would seem that knowing that the AC would cut off after 30 minutes, he had to have forgotten. As irresponsible as it is to leave an infant in a car, and we all agree that it is, how possible is it that he would think, “Well, I know the AC shut off, but I’m just going to leave her out there.”? [I once read of a woman who did similar with her dogs who meant the world to her. Irresponsible to take such a risk, but did actually lose track of time flying by.]

 

[SMK777]

Well, an alternative could be that it was 100% intentional, that he remembered she was out there but needed just one more game or competition, lost track of time but didn't "forget". Then when ES got home he pretended to look for Parker.

Hard to believe a dad would forget about the baby, but forgetting is the charitable choice.

I don't know what to think. Another possibility is that he was drinking or on drugs, and didn't forget, but was out of it. LE should be able to tell if there was constant activity on the device, no? Does PS5 use home wifi? I wonder if he told the other girls not to bother him.

Yes, I had wondered also about drugs or alcohol possibly being a factor…

 

[MsMarple]

forgotten baby syndrome - why lie then when recounting to LE and say he only left her there for an hour or so when it was actually 3?

He may be claiming that his (faulty) recollection was that he believed she had been brought into the house after her car nap. Kind of like the parent whose memory told them they dropped the child at daycare when they didn’t.

To be clear, my gut tells me he didn’t realize so much time had passed while he was busy gaming but then lied outright to his wife and LE in order to worm out of responsibility.

IMO he screwed up then tried to rewrite what happened. IMO he showed total disregard for his daughter’s safety and probably kept telling himself “I’ll go get her in a minute,” until the minutes turned into hours.

IMO he meets the criteria for second degree murder and child abuse and should be punished accordingly. His selfish behavior is the direct cause of his child’s horrific death.

My comments are just addressing possible defense strategies. I’d love to see him plead guilty and go to prison. I don’t care if he got distracted by putting food away or anything else; his job was to take care of his children and he chose to shirk that responsibility. Bah.
MOO

 

[NuttMegg]

We only heard that the girls said he put groceries away and used the play station, and that he had sometimes (routinely?) left all 3 in the car. I can't remember anything else from their le interview.

But, he could have told them to go up and play with their barbies, leave him be, don't come down. Or he could have slept and the girls related that. Maybe there is more in their le interview that hasn't been disclosed.

 

[LifeIsAMystery]

There is someone with the same name with local court records. I won't post, not sure what is allowed, but he appears to have failed to pay child support for a prior child for years. Wonder if that was linked to the not working? So wages could not be garnished? If I've crossed any boundaries, mods, pls. let me know &/or delete, that is not my intention.

 

[al66pine]

Has anyone seen an OBITUARY for the toddler, perhaps in a newspaper local to family or in an online tribute in soc media page/account?

A link pls, if handy?

ETA: IIRC, per one of the MSM articles, in the ct. hearing (wasn't that on Fri?) Mother said mentioned planning the funeral to be held on Saturday.

 

[NuttMegg]

Has anyone seen an OBITUARY for the toddler, perhaps in a newspaper local to family or in an online tribute in soc media page/account?

A link, pls, if handy?

ETA: IIRC, in the ct. hearing (wasn't that on Fri?) Mother said something planning the funeral to be held on Saturday.

I looked last night for obit for Parker Scholtes, nothing but a fundraiser. According to EC's court statements she wanted CS to be there "Saturday" for Parker's burial. So maybe an obit will be issued that same day, if the burial also means a funeral. A time when obits are often published.

Unless it was last Saturday.
Imo

 

[TTF14]

I have never heard of a car's a/c turning off after 30 minutes. What's the purpose of that functionality?

 

[NuttMegg]

Dup

 

[Seni]

We only heard that the girls said he put groceries away and used the play station, and that he had sometimes (routinely?) left all 3 in the car. I can't remember anything else from their le interview.

But, he could have told them to go up and play with their barbies, leave him be, don't come down. Or he could have slept and the girls related that. Maybe there is more in their le interview that hasn't been disclosed.

Sounds a likely scenario to me. If he had been chatting to the older girls or making lunch for all, surely one of them would have thought to get Parker?

Its not sounding like a child friendly situation for any of the girls to me. IMO

 

[SMK777]

I have never heard of a car's a/c turning off after 30 minutes. What's the purpose of that functionality?

I was surprised also. In re-reading it, it sounds like the car engine would cut off at 30 minutes, and the AC was part of that.

 

[NuttMegg]

Sounds a likely scenario to me. If he had been chatting to the older girls or making lunch for all, surely one of them would have thought to get Parker?

Its not sounding like a child friendly situation for any of the girls to me. IMO

LE probably knows if they ate out before coming home. Or in their house. It was 12:53 when they returned. Lunch time.

 

[anicechicken]

I have never heard of a car's a/c turning off after 30 minutes. What's the purpose of that functionality?

Most new cars do this now. The whole car shuts down after that time. I assumed it was in case you leave it running in the garage you don't accidentally carbon monoxide poison your house, but couldn't tell you for sure.

 

[TTF14]

Most new cars do this now. The whole car shuts down after that time. I assumed it was in case you leave it running in the garage you don't accidentally carbon monoxide poison your house, but couldn't tell you for sure.

Having done exactly this many times (thankfully not in an enclosed garage, but I fear doing so all the time), I get this. I thought it was just the a/c, but the whole car powering off makes sense. Taking a gamble that you're going to remember to go back out on a sweltering day makes so much less sense .

 

[imstilla.grandma]

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1562212914703505

 

[vlbay]

There was an article that said this specific vehicle would shut off after 20 minutes if it was in park and the driver's seatbelt was unbuckled. Also that the dad said he checked on her once and the car was still running, but it sounds like this was a lie.

 

[airportwoman]

You'd be surprised what some ostensibly intelligent people are capable of believing.

Replying to my own post: Or, for that matter, marrying.

 

[airportwoman]

Sounds a likely scenario to me. If he had been chatting to the older girls or making lunch for all, surely one of them would have thought to get Parker?

Its not sounding like a child friendly situation for any of the girls to me. IMO

And, for that matter, the older girls wondering where the baby was?