Newly released body camera footage revealed the disturbing reaction of an Arizona father, Christopher Scholtes, 37, after police confronted him for leaving his young daughter, Parker, to die in a burning car while he played video games. The footage shows Scholtes becoming defensive and questioning the severity of the situation, asking: “So they’re treating me like a murderer?”
The tragic incident occurred on July 9, when police responded to Scholtes’ home and found his 2-year-old daughter, Parker, in critical condition inside the family car. Scholtes claimed he had left her in the car with the air conditioning on for only half an hour because he didn’t want to wake her up. However, the situation quickly escalated when police informed him that his home could be considered a crime scene. Scholtes raised his voice and repeatedly asked if he was being treated like a murderer.
Body camera images obtained by Inside edition The image shows a visibly distressed Scholtes pacing his home with his head in his hands as officers tried to save his daughter. “Please, baby, please,” he pleaded, then added, “I can’t believe this,” as he spoke into the phone, his voice cracking with emotion. Despite officers’ efforts, Parker was in dire condition. One officer told Scholtes, “She’s really hot right now. We’re going to do everything we can.”
Parker was discovered by her mother, an anesthesiologist, when she returned home around 4 p.m. and found her in the car with the air conditioning off. Scholtes initially told police that she had left Parker outside for “no more than 30 or 45 minutes” and claimed to have been keeping an eye on her the entire time. However, court documents later revealed that she had allegedly left her in the car for more than three hours. This was not an isolated incident; Scholtes allegedly had a habit of leaving her three daughters in the car while she distracted herself by playing video games and other activities.
Text messages between Scholtes and his wife, Erika Scholtes, highlight earlier warnings. “I told you to stop leaving them in the car,” Erika wrote to him after the tragedy. “How many times have I told you?” His other children confirmed to police that their father regularly left them in the car, according to a criminal complaint. In addition, Scholtes’ 16-year-old daughter from a previous marriage told police that her father regularly left them in the car. KVOA-TV who often left her alone in cars for hours, leading to her being taken away by Child Protective Services.
Scholtes has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder charges and remains free on bail. His wife asked the judge to allow him to return home so they can “start the grieving process” together, describing the incident as a “huge mistake” that “doesn’t represent him.”