Christopher Scholtes, 37, from Arizona, cries out to police officers as he drops to his knees in video footage of the horror moment he is told about his daughter’s death
This is the moment a father drops to his knees as he’s told by police he is being charged with the murder of his two-year-old year old daughter.
In police body cam footage, Christopher Scholtes, 37, from Arizona, can also be seen crying out to officers in the horror moment he is told about his daughter’s death. The 37-year-old has been charged with first degree murder after first being arrested on the lesser charge of second-degree murder. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
In the video, he is heard whimpering: «‘I can’t believe this. Oh my God.» Cops found the little girl unresponsive in his car, where he is alleged to have left her while indulging in a gaming session. In the video of his arrest, he paces around his house in a panic as police and paramedics desperately try to revive two-year-old tot Parker. On the day in question, temperatures outside the vehicle had reached 43C.
Officers later returned to charge the father-of-three, when his wife, Dr Erika Scholtes, kissed him before saying, ‘I love you’, while another family member is heard shouting at officers: «You have no heart. No f***ing heart at all,» as he is handcuffed and taken to the police station.
According to an interim complaint, Scholtes’ wife found their daughter unconscious in the vehicle after returning home three hours later. At the time, the car’s interior temperature had reached 43C (109F).
Scholtes reportedly told Marana Police detectives that after running errands that day, he left his daughter in the car with the air conditioning on while she slept in her car seat. He allegedly knew that his car’s engine shuts off automatically after 30 minutes.
Scholtes’ two other daughters, then six and nine years old, also reportedly told detectives that their father had previously left them alone in the car for extended periods. In a text exchange, his wife allegedly warned him repeatedly to stop leaving the children in the vehicle.
«I told you to stop leaving them in the car, how many times have I told you,” his wife wrote, per the complaint.
“Babe, I’m sorry,” Scholtes responded. “We’ve lost her, she was perfect,” wrote his wife.
“Babe our family. How could I do this. I killed our baby, this can’t be real,” he replied.
After reviewing the evidence, the Pima County Attorney’s Office charged Scholtes with first-degree murder and intentional child abuse.
At his arraignment, he pleaded not guilty to both charges. In March, Scholtes rejected a plea deal from prosecutors, which would have reduced the charge to second-degree murder if he had pleaded guilty, according to PEOPLE.
Just days after rejecting the plea deal, Scholtes petitioned the court to allow him to travel to Maui with his family. Judge Ortiz approved the request but stipulated that Scholtes must comply with all parole conditions, including contacting pretrial services throughout the trip. Additionally, he was prohibited from having unsupervised contact with children, including his own.
Prosecutors sought to have Scholtes surrender his passport before the trip, but Judge Ortiz denied this motion.
Scholtes’ trial is scheduled to begin on October 27, after being delayed from its original September start date. If convicted, Scholtes faces a potential life sentence in prison.
