Arizona father charged with murder after leaving 2-year-old in hot car

AN Arizona man was arrested and charged with murder after leaving his 2-year-old daughter in the car outside the family’s home for three hours when temperatures climbed to 109 degrees.

Christopher Scholtes, 37, according to NBC News, was arrested Friday and booked at the Pima County Adult Detention Center on second-degree murder and child abuse charges.

Scholtes told police that when he arrived home Tuesday afternoon, his daughter was asleep in her car seat and he did not want to wake her, Marana police said in a news release.

It says he said he left her inside the car seat with the vehicle running in the driveway and the air conditioner turned on.

He then went into the home, police said.

CrimesChroniclers learnt that the girl’s mother came home shortly afterward and found the toddler in the vehicle. The car was no longer running, and the air conditioner was off.

Despite lifesaving measures by the mother and law enforcement officers, the girl was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Police obtained video from nearby homes and determined that Scholtes had left his daughter in the car for about three hours, the release says.

A history-making heat wave has been gripping parts of the country, with temperatures climbing to 109 degrees Tuesday.

An affidavit alleges that Scholtes told authorities that it was not unusual for him and his wife, a medical doctor, to leave their daughter in the running car while it was parked in the garage.

He said he parked in the driveway because there was exercise equipment in the garage.

He also said that he usually gets alerts if his car becomes too hot or shuts off but that he did not get any the day of the incident, according to the affidavit.

Police said the incident is a “stark reminder of the dangers of leaving children unattended in vehicles.”

“The temperature inside a vehicle can rise rapidly, even on relatively mild days, leading to potentially fatal outcomes within minutes.

“We urge all parents and caregivers to remain vigilant and take every precaution to ensure the safety of their children,” police said.