Doctor’s husband pleads GUILTY to murdering daughter, 2, in hot car while he watched adult videos… as he maintains stony silence at court

A father who left his two-year-old daughter to die in a hot car while she played video games, drank beer and watched porn has pleaded guilty to murdering his daughter.

Christopher Scholtes, 38, appeared in a Pima County court in Arizona on Wednesday to confess to the second-degree murder of his child Parker on July 9 last year.

The Pima County District Attorney’s Office said the man will be sentenced Nov. 21 and faces 20 to 30 years in prison and is not eligible for parole.

Scholtes, flanked by his doctor wife Erika, rejected a plea deal in March that would have sentenced him to as little as ten years in prison.

He maintained a grim silence when asked if he had anything to say when he arrived in court and whether he had apologized to Parker’s grandparents.

Scholtes left Parker sleeping in his 2023 Acura with the air conditioning on outside his home in Marana, Arizona, in 90F weather.

However, while he was playing games, drinking and watching pornography on his PlayStation for more than three hours, he lost track of time and the car 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.

Parker was left to sleep in the family’s Acura with the air conditioning on. His father is now charged with murder

In the correspondence between Scholtes and his wife Erika, it was revealed that leaving his children in the car for long periods of time was a form of behavior for him.

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 worked as an anesthesiologist at Banner University Medical Center, the hospital where Parker was admitted.

She strongly defended her husband in court, saying her daughter’s death was ‘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 teens told police that Scholtes was ‘distracted by playing games and putting his food aside.’

A PlayStation and other electronic devices were taken as evidence.

Scholtes also searched online for men’s clothing and pornography at Nordstrom from 2:02 to 2:30 p.m., prosecutors wrote in court documents.

Scholtes (left) refused to say a word when he arrived in Pima County court on Wednesday when asked if he had anything to say and if he would apologize to Parker’s grandparents.

Erika Scholtes, 35, was working as an anesthesiologist at the hospital where her daughter was taken.

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 footage shows him buying alcohol at 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.

Scholtes’ two other children, ages nine and five, told police that Scholtes regularly left all three of his siblings alone in the vehicle.

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 the toddler was, causing both parents to frantically run to the car and first responders arrived soon after.

Parker was pronounced dead at the hospital just an hour later.

Investigations into how he died revealed a disturbing case of alcoholism, child neglect and past drug use.

His older daughters said their parents often fought over Scholtes’ behavior, especially how much he drank.

‘He still drinks too much beer and keeps leaving us in the car when my mom tells him to stop doing that,’ one of the girls said, according to the documents.

‘This is how he caused my sister’s death.’

Other messages between the couple showed Erika becoming increasingly angry about allowing her husband’s drinking to put the children’s lives at risk.

“You haven’t shown me that you can stop endangering girls or stop treating me badly,” he wrote on March 11 last year.

Scholtes, 37, was charged with murder after leaving his two-year-old daughter (pictured as a newborn) behind a hot car in 109F temperatures while inside their home.

Police investigated the scene outside the home in Marana, north of Tucson, Arizona. Parker stuck behind police tape in blue Honda Acura SUV

‘Even yesterday, you went home drunk with two underage children. You drink too much every time. You can never have just one. ‘I’ve been wanting to cut down for three years and it just got worse.’

Scholtes promised to “find comfort and happiness elsewhere,” but Erika disagreed, saying that the last time she did this, she simply replaced the booze with cocaine.

‘At least this is legal, right?’ he replied.

‘I’m a complete shit addict and I need to get addicted to healthy things like running again.’

But just ten days later, Parker was furious with her for allegedly speeding 88 mph after drinking in the car, saying both were ‘shitty decisions’.

‘You hate me,’ he replied. ‘And he was sleeping, no problem.’

Scholtes, who was released on bail, was granted permission by the court earlier this year to go on vacation to Maui with his doctor wife, Erika, and their surviving children.

Scholtes had a history of similar behavior with his eldest daughter from a previous partner, who is now 16.

Some of her family told investigators that at the time, he also left her and her two other daughters alone in the car until the air conditioning turned off.

Scholtes was allowed to go on vacation to Hawaii earlier this year with his wife Erika Scholtes and their children, who stood by him and even defended him strongly in court.

Luckily, the older girl knew how to start the car and prevent them all from suffering the same fate as Parker.

Scholtes also allegedly abused the eldest daughter, who once called the police to say she was afraid to go home because she had lost some money and was worried her father would hit her.

Department of Child Services investigators wrote in their report that he said he was ‘frequently slapped, thrown, had his hair pulled, had his head pushed against walls, and was grabbed by his shirt or arm.’

Scholtes eventually lost custody of the girl, and after her mother died earlier this year, the girl was replaced by another guardian.