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An Arizona father who faces at least 20 years in prison for leaving his 2-year-old daughter to die in a hot car while she played video games has died by suicide, prosecutors said.
Christopher Scholtes, 38, died Tuesday night, the Pima County Prosecutor’s Office announced Wednesday, Nov. 5. Scholtes was scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday, when he was to be remanded in custody before the formal sentencing.
Phoenix police confirmed to USA TODAY that Scholtes’ body was found in Phoenix.
In a plea deal with prosecutors announced Oct. 22, Scholtes pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and aggravated child abuse, the district attorney’s office said. According to the agreement, on November 21 at sentencing, Scholtes faced 20 to 30 years in prison and would not have been eligible for parole.
Here’s what else you need to know.
Christopher Scholtes: ‘I killed our baby’
in 2024 July 9 Scholtes told investigators he left his 2-year-old daughter in the car so she could sleep, but thought the air conditioner was running outside the family’s home in Marana, a town about 100 miles south of Phoenix. The girl was found by her mother a few hours later when the air conditioner was automatically turned off and the temperature outside was in the triple digits.
Court documents obtained by USA TODAY showed that Scholtes told investigators that he regularly left all three of his children alone in the car.
While the 2-year-old was being rushed to the hospital, Scholtes received a series of text messages from his wife, Erika, in which she repeatedly reminded him to “not leave them in the car,” according to the documents.
Scholtes apologized, writing: “Baby, I’m sorry!… Our sweet family. How could I do this. I killed our baby, it can’t be real.”
Hot car deaths in context
Every year, parents in the U.S. leave their children in hot cars, often by accident, as they juggle work and their children, according to Kids and Car Safety, a group that tries to educate the public about the problem. In most cases, children figure out how to get into the car and lock it themselves.
So far this year, 30 babies and children have died in hot cars in the U.S., according to the group. Police and prosecutors often refuse to bring cases against parents who have just made the worst mistake of their life or who didn’t know their child was stuck in their car.
Part of Scholtes’ case stood out because he intentionally left his daughter in the car, even though he said he forgot she was there. While his daughter died, court records show he was unloading groceries and playing video games.
According to Amber Rollins, director of child and auto safety, a group that tries to educate the public about the issue, one of the biggest problems contributing to hot car deaths is that many parents don’t think it could happen to them.
“People think there’s no way under any circumstances that this could happen, that someone could actually unknowingly leave their child in their car,” she previously told USA TODAY. “They think, ‘This must be a monster.’
Contributed by: Amaris Enchinas
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Arizona dad found dead faces 30 years in toddler’s hot car death