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

[NuttMegg]

Dup

 

[amaraya]

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

Not only did he kill this sweet baby in a horrible way but severely traumatized these two sisters in a life changing way.

I just don't understand how he could have forgotten and how he could do this refularly and she knowingly left the girls with him. Leaving all 3 sometimes? A nine and five year old left in a car at their own house on a tablet? It is just so ridiculous. And now, tragic.

 

[ErinC]

Those poor, poor older two girls. I'm sure he's been doing this for a long time, and they likely haven't been thinking it was ok, and they wanted it to stop, but they're only 9 and 5, and they didn't know where to even begin to tell someone what was going on....I so fear it will haunt them forever. That....possessor of a Y chromosome, for he's certainly no man... can go rot IMO.

 

[NuttMegg]

"which brought temperatures to as high 111F outside and at least 140F inside the vehicle." Mom makes plea after husband left daughter to die in hot car

 

[airportwoman]

Not only did he kill this sweet baby in a horrible way but severely traumatized these two sisters in a life changing way.

I just don't understand how he could have forgotten and how he could do this refularly and she knowingly left the girls with him. Leaving all 3 sometimes? A nine and five year old left in a car at their own house on a tablet? It is just so ridiculous. And now, tragic.

Those girls were old enough to tell their mother, or someone else, what he was (not) doing. Does anyone else wonder if he threatened them, to keep their mouths shut about this?

 

[AnyNameIWish]

From the courtTV link:

"I told you to stop leaving the kids in the car"???

As in, this has been a pattern.

 

[SMK777]

Those girls were old enough to tell their mother, or someone else, what he was (not) doing. Does anyone else wonder if he threatened them, to keep their mouths shut about this?

Either that, or they had gotten used to being treated like they were in the way, and had that normalized for them.

 

[MissMalowe]

I'm guessing he was attempting to make himself look less irresponsible by falsely claiming that he checked on her once, but all he really did with that claim is further remove the possibility that he forgot she was out there- instead, it suggests that he was aware but just opted to leave her out there longer.

Edited to add:
(I didn't articulate this post well. The lie suggests he was covering the fact that he failed to check on her while she was out there, not that he forgot about her being out there entirely.

 

[NuttMegg]

Dup

 

[Inthedetails]

Either that, or they had gotten used to being treated like they were in the way, and had that normalized for them.

That ^^ is what I expect it was like, standard operating procedure, and the kids were used to it. I feel for the girls who likely had to "tell on" what their dad did that day.

jmo

 

[Quim The Extraordinaire]

Either that, or they had gotten used to being treated like they were in the way, and had that normalized for them.

IMO MOO

That’s right out of today’s Toxic Behavior Excuse Playbook:

Normalize your actions
Minimize your actions
Joke about your actions

Those poor kids. They’re going to need lots of love and support. I hope they get it.

IMO MOO

 

[LifeIsAMystery]

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

 

[LifeIsAMystery]

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.

Think of it like a remote feature to warm or cool the car before you go to it.
Per video from neighbors he did not check on the child for the whole 3 hours before the mother found her.

 

[TTF14]

Think of it like a remote feature to warm or cool the car before you go to it.
Per video from neighbors he did not check on the child for the whole 3 hours before the mother found her.

I know video game addiction is a very real thing. But I hope they also tested his blood for substances.

 

[BrownRice]

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

If I was the prosecutor m not sure I’d give a plea. IMO this isn’t forgotten baby syndrome. He left her there on purpose. With her iPad in case she woke up. Sure he forgot about her later, but this is a whole different scenario than someone who drives to work and forgets baby in the back wasn’t dropped off at daycare. Night and day difference.

 

[MissMalowe]

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 rereceived.

Between these numerous hot car death threads lately and my being a sucker for documentaries about tragedy, I immediately added this to my Netflix watch list after you posted about it and watched it the other night. Very good documentary! Thanks for letting us know about it!

 

[borndem]

I know video game addiction is a very real thing. But I hope they also tested his blood for substances.

bbm
From the situations I've read here, and situations in news articles, etc., etc., I think blood testing would be at least a probability for narcotics, perhaps, and certainly a test for driving drunk would be de rigueur, for sure. He may well have passed those tests...
Glad they have charged him... IMO, he is in Big Trouble.
As many of us here have already said, letting that little child die was not his only fault, not by a long shot. Grrrr.

 

[al66pine]

At Hearing. Burial. Not Funeral.

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

@NuttMegg Thx for your response.

And TYVM for noting that at ct. hearing, Mo. referred to BURIAL of dau. My post referring to "funeral" was incorrect. My bad.

 

[TTF14]

bbm
From the situations I've read here, and situations in news articles, etc., etc., I think blood testing would be at least a probability for narcotics, perhaps, and certainly a test for driving drunk would be de rigueur, for sure. He may well have passed those tests...
Glad they have charged him... IMO, he is in Big Trouble.
As many of us here have already said, letting that little child die was not his only fault, not by a long shot. Grrrr.

Hopefully THC too. From time to arriving home to forgetting to check on your kid is within the timeline of edibles taking effect.

IMO IME MOO

 

[al66pine]

Fundraiser?

I looked last night for obit for Parker Scholtes, nothing but a fundraiser....

sbm @NuttMegg
Thx for your post mentioning a fundraiser which was mentioned on another site, which said it was organized by a fam friend.

When I clicked link to go to The Granddaddy of Fundraising Sites, I could not see fundraiser info or page for "Parker Scholtes." It said "donations paused."
Personally drawing no conclusions one way or any other.