An Arizona father was arrested and charged with murder for allegedly leaving his 2-year-old daughter in the car outside the family’s home for three hours when temperatures climbed to 109 degrees, authorities said.
Christopher Scholtes, 37, was taken into custody Friday and booked at the Pima County Adult Detention Center for second-degree murder and child abuse, the Marana Police Department said in a news release.
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, the release states. He allegedly 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.
The girl’s mother came home shortly afterward, according to police, and found the toddler in the vehicle. The car was no longer running and the air conditioner was off, authorities said.
Despite lifesaving measures by the mother and law enforcement, 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 states.
A history-making heat wave has been gripping parts of the country, with temperatures climbing up to 109 degrees on 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, according to NBC affiliate KVOA of Tucson. He said he had parked in the driveway because there was exercise equipment in the garage.
He also said that he usually receives alerts if his car becomes too hot or shuts off, but he did not get any on 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,” police said. “We urge all parents and caregivers to remain vigilant and take every precaution to ensure the safety of their children.”
It’s not clear if Scholtes has obtained an attorney.