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

[NuttMegg]

Have there been very many hot car death cases that sent a bio parent to prison for life?

Here's one in GA, 20 years in prison, 13 month old baby, body temp 107, left 5 hours

 

[NuttMegg]

So I guess the big question is:

Does the defendant have to be charged with 2nd or manslaughter, to get something less than the charged 1st degree murder?

 

[abyquinn]

I've missed a lot here, but murder 1 must have some mandatory range of sentencing? Or is it simply lwop. Would differ from state to state. I think.

The 1st degree was Life, the Child Abuse was 10 to 24 (17yrs) - these were flat time. No early parole, no time off for good behavior. He was going to die in prison if convicted.

The notice tonight said nothing about the Child Abuse charge. I hope that charge isn’t being dropped. The 20 to 30 yrs is hard enough to swallow. At least with the CA charge together we know he will spend at least 37 years in prison. Not what seems appropriate in this case but better than 20 years.

 

[NuttMegg]

Ok, I'm happier now. Yes in Arizona judge can instruct jury that they can find 2nd or manslaughter even if charged only with 1st degree. Per AI. But is it the same judge who let him ofg without bond??

 

[abyquinn]

So I guess the big question is:

Does the defendant have to be charged with 2nd or manslaughter, to get something less than the charged 1st degree murder?

They go with the steepest charge in this case Murder1, if the jury doesn’t think the state proved 1st degree they have the choice of Murder 2, then manslaughter 1, manslaughter 2 etc, etc Otherwise the choice would be Murder 1 or acquittal. That would be awful!

 

[NuttMegg]

They go with the steepest charge in this case Murder1, if the jury doesn’t think the state proved 1st degree they have the choice of Murder 2, then manslaughter 1, manslaughter 2 etc, etc Otherwise the choice would be Murder 1 or acquittal. That would be awful!

Yeah that would be awful! But I don't think I've seen anything that proves premeditation in killing the baby. So without premeditation it has to slide down to at most 2nd degree (plus child abuse which seems inevitable to me, given that hot car baby death is one of the specific examples).

 

[abyquinn]

With their plea offer being 20-30 years, doesn't that mean that if he is found guilty by a jury trial, that his sentence will be longer than that?

Judge Ortiz told him if he goes to trial and found guilty of Murder 1 it is a mandatory Life w/o parole, plus 10 to 24 (17 yrs) for Child Abuse.

The jury could decide that Murder1 isn’t appropriate then Murder2, Manslaughter 1 or 2 etc.

 

[abyquinn]

Yeah that would be awful! But I don't think I've seen anything that proves premeditation in killing the baby. So without premeditation it has to slide down to at most 2nd degree (plus child abuse which seems inevitable to me, given that hot car baby death is one of the specific examples).

The Murder 1 charge was set by the Grand Jury because her death was caused by Child Abuse. Not due to premeditation. The original charge was Murder2.

 

[NuttMegg]

2nd degree, child under 15 yrs

 

[abyquinn]

Have there been very many hot car death cases that sent a bio parent to prison for life?

Not a lot. Usually hot car deaths are caused by an accident the fact that Christopher intentionally left Parker in the car, an act of Child Abuse causing death is what upped his charge to Murder1 which the judge said was a mandatory Life w/o parole.

I’m usually not in favor of charging a parent who loses a child in a hot car. Usually there is nothing the state can do to punish those parents any more than they are doing to themselves. Usually. I swear if Christopher wasn’t charged with causing Parker’s death I could 100% see him suing the car manufacturer for the car not alerting him when it shut off the AC. His being charged with her death kind of closed the door on that opportunity.

 

[steeltowngirl]

Link to audio hearing -

Superior Court Public Recordings
Today at 10:30 am MST (1:30 pm EDT)

 

[rsteen]

Yeah that would be awful! But I don't think I've seen anything that proves premeditation in killing the baby. So without premeditation it has to slide down to at most 2nd degree (plus child abuse which seems inevitable to me, given that hot car baby death is one of the specific examples).

I don't think Chris intended to kill or seriously harm Parker. He simply had a reckless disregard for her safety (and that of her siblings) which had been demonstrated on multiple prior occasions which I hope will be admissible eveidence.

 

[mickey2942]

These "Hot Car" deaths are all over the map. There is a conspicuous lack of consistency in these cases.
Look at every single one of these cases.

2025 Child Hot Car Deaths - Kids and Car Safety

Child hot car deaths for 2025 in the United Sates

www.kidsandcars.org

 

[steeltowngirl]

Ok, I'm happier now. Yes in Arizona judge can instruct jury that they can find 2nd or manslaughter even if charged only with 1st degree. Per AI. But is it the same judge who let him ofg without bond??

Different judge. Presiding trial judge is the Hon. Kimberly Ortiz.

Release without bond was the Hon. Lisa Surhio.

"The prosecutor, Brad Terrace, asked that he be held on a $1 million bond, noting that Scholtes mislead investigators about details that resulted in his daughter’s death.
Judge Lisa Surhio instead released Scholtes without bond. Scholtes was released to pre-trial services supervision and is prohibited from having any unsupervised contact with minors while the case is pending. He also is prohibited from using alcohol, drugs and having firearms."

Father arrested in daughter's hot-car death: 'I killed our baby'

In a text to his wife as their daughter was being taken to the hospital, Christopher Scholtes wrote, "“Babe, our family. How could I do this. I killed our baby,

tucson.com

 

[steeltowngirl]

I don't think Chris intended to kill or seriously harm Parker. He simply had a reckless disregard for her safety (and that of her siblings) which had been demonstrated on multiple prior occasions which I hope will be admissible eveidence.

Definitely did it before and it certainly should be admissible. The texts will also be allowed. He said it himself.

It was about 109 degrees that day.
He later told police his daughter fell asleep in her car seat while they were returning from running errands and that he left her in the running car with the AC turned on while he went into the house, something he said he’d done before, the court document says.

The father also told police that if the car heats up too much or shuts off, he usually receives alerts on his cell phone. But that didn’t happen this time, the document says.

[...]
On July 9 in texts to his wife as she rode in an ambulance with Parker, Scholtes wrote: “Detectives are coming for me. I’m going to prison. How could I do this?"

Father of Marana girl who died in hot car faces murder, child abuse charges

The girl's father was arrested and jailed on suspicion of second-degree murder and child abuse, Marana police say.

tucson.com

 

[NuttMegg]

Definitely did it before and it certainly should be admissible. The texts will also be allowed. He said it himself.

It was about 109 degrees that day.
He later told police his daughter fell asleep in her car seat while they were returning from running errands and that he left her in the running car with the AC turned on while he went into the house, something he said he’d done before, the court document says.

The father also told police that if the car heats up too much or shuts off, he usually receives alerts on his cell phone. But that didn’t happen this time, the document says.

[...]
On July 9 in texts to his wife as she rode in an ambulance with Parker, Scholtes wrote: “Detectives are coming for me. I’m going to prison. How could I do this?"

Father of Marana girl who died in hot car faces murder, child abuse charges

The girl's father was arrested and jailed on suspicion of second-degree murder and child abuse, Marana police say.

tucson.com

LE could have, should have verified that app being on his phone. Maybe they did, it's essential imo.

 

[steeltowngirl]

Have there been very many hot car death cases that sent a bio parent to prison for life?

Justin Ross Harris is the only LWOP that I can recall. Later overturned on appeal. He spent 10 years in prison.

Jenna Boedecker was sentenced to 58 years. She’s appealing.

Clay County, Missouri mother convicted in deaths of two young children appeals sentence

Jenna Boedecker's attorney filed the appeal on Tuesday, according to online court records.

www.kmbc.com

 

[mickey2942]

Even without the BAC, and prior bad acts removed. As a juror, I am still not going to be very sympathetic to CS.

1. Text messages from Erika that he had left children in car previously.
2. I don't understand the sheer laziness of leaving a child strapped into a car seat, in a car out in the sun in the summer in Tucson, AZ.
3. The fact he just blew her off, addicted to Playstation games.

So, I still think he is going to prison.

 

[crcap]

Have there been very many hot car death cases that sent a bio parent to prison for life?

I don’t think so but most of those defendants didn’t have a history of leaving their kids in hot cars. Most of them also left the kid in the car on accident as opposed to knowingly leaving them in the car as CS has already admitted to.

 

[Arkay]

Even without the BAC, and prior bad acts removed. As a juror, I am still not going to be very sympathetic to CS.

1. Text messages from Erika that he had left children in car previously.
2. I don't understand the sheer laziness of leaving a child strapped into a car seat, in a car out in the sun in the summer in Tucson, AZ.
3. The fact he just blew her off, addicted to Playstation games.

So, I still think he is going to prison.

I hope so, @mickey2942 .

IMO, although every case of a child dying in a hot car is a complete tragedy, it seems that the vast majority occur in some unfathomable way when parents actually and truly somehow forget that they didn’t drop their kid off at daycare, or for whatever reason they are so distracted.

I still find it hard to comprehend how this happens. I have 3 grandchildren and was always glancing in the rear-view mirror to take a look at them.

HOWEVER, IMO this is an ENTIRELY different and indefensible situation. We all know that Chris did not FORGET Parker was in the car, but instead left her there intentionally as he’d done many times, expecting the car to be some kind of playpen so he could go off and amuse himself rather than caring for her.

And this was well-known not just to Erika but to the other daughters who’d suffered as well.

The best solution I’ve ever read about how to avoid ACCIDENTAL car deaths of children is the one about removing your non-driving shoe and throwing it in the back seat.

If somehow on earth you do truly forget your kid is in the car (!), you’ll feel it the instant you exit your vehicle. You’ll find your shoe in the backseat and voila, you’ll see your baby or toddler is still there.

In Chris’ cases there is a long chain of evidence of him doing this with forethought and selfish intent. His wife berated him but that had no effect BECAUSE he meant to leave Parker there.

To me it’s sickening that she supports him or can even look at him.

LOCK HIM UP.

JMO