Doctor’s husband ‘was watching X-rated videos in his house while daughter, 2, died in roasting car outside’
A doctor’s husband was watching pornography at his home while his two-year-old daughter died in a hot car outside, a court heard.
Christopher Scholtes, 37, is charged with first-degree murder after leaving two-year-old Parker to nap in 90F heat in Marana, Arizona, last July.
His alleged X-rated behavior was addressed at a hearing in Tucson on Tuesday, 15 months after the little girl was cooked to death outside.
Prosecutors wanted to present the shocking claim made in court documents as evidence to jurors in Scholtes’ upcoming murder trial.
The judge barred them from doing so, but told jurors they could have been notified earlier about allegations that Scholtes left her children unattended in a car.
Scholtes left his 2003 Acura running with the air conditioning on, but allegedly lost track of time while playing games on PlayStation, drinking and watching pornography, and watched the vehicle shut down.
The Pima County Medical Examiner said the temperature inside the car was 108.9F when first responders arrived and confirmed the woman died from heat exposure.
Among the evidence ruled admissible at Tuesday’s hearing were messages between Scholtes and his wife, Erika, that allegedly revealed a pattern of behavior for her.
Christopher Scholtes’ two-year-old daughter Parker (pictured above held by her mother Erika) is said to have been watching porn when she died in a hot car.
While Parker was being taken to hospital, he texted Erika Scholtes and said: ‘I told you to leave them in the car, how many times have I told you.’
He later added: ‘We lost him, he was perfect.’
Scholtes responded: ‘Baby, I’m sorry! How can I do this? ‘I killed our baby, this can’t be real.’
Erika Scholtes was working as an anesthesiologist at Banner University Medical Center where Parker was hospitalized.
She stood by her husband and even defended him strongly in court, calling their daughter’s death ‘a mistake’.
Scholtes’ two other children, ages nine and five at the time, also told police that their father regularly left all three siblings alone in the car.
According to the criminal complaint, the children told police that Scholtes was ‘distracted by playing and putting his food aside.’
A PlayStation and other electronic devices were taken away by police as evidence.
Prosecutors alleged in court documents that Scholtes also searched online for men’s clothing and pornography at Nordstrom from 2:02 to 2:30 p.m.
Parker was left to sleep in the family’s Acura with the air conditioning on. His father is now charged with murder
Scholtes also shopped at a gas station and a supermarket that day, leaving Parker alone in the car on the way home.
He stole beer from both stores, some of which he later drank as Parker died, documents say.
Surveillance video showed him grabbing beer cans from the gas station, going into the bathroom, and walking out with fewer cans than he went in with.
Scholtes finally arrived home at 12:53 p.m., leaving the older daughters unattended as they returned from the trampoline park.
He initially told detectives he arrived at 2:30 p.m., but changed his story after security footage proved he was lying.
Parker was left to nap in the car while everyone else went inside and wasn’t picked up until Erika got home from work after 4 p.m.
Erika walked in and asked where Parker was, causing both parents to frantically run to the car and first responders arrived soon after.
Parker was pronounced dead just an hour later at his mother’s hospital.
