Dad facing murder charge for leaving baby to death in hot car after getting 'distracted' by video games
A man has been charged with murder for leaving his 2-year-old child in a hot car to death because he got "distracted" by video games.
Citing court documents, USA Today reported that Christopher Scholtes from Arizona got busy fixing his groceries and playing video games when he left his daughter in the vehicle at their family home for hours.
As seen in CCTV footage, Scholtes got back from the supermarket with his 2-year-old—as well as his two other children aged five and nine—at almost 1:00 p.m. His child was asleep and "did not want to wake her up" at the time, so he decided to leave her there with the air conditioner on. It slipped his mind that the A/C turns off automatically after running for half an hour.
He only realized that he left his child in the car when his wife Erika looked for their baby when she got home from work at around 4:00 p.m.
The little one was found "still strapped in her child restraint system" in the car but was no longer responsive. Scholtes rushed her to a nearby hospital for immediate medical assistance, but she was pronounced dead later on.
Authorities said that during the ride, Erika told him via text message that she reminded him several times not to leave their children in the car.
"Baby, I'm sorry! Babe, our family. How could I do this? I killed our baby. This can't be real," his text for Erika read.
An investigation on the case is ongoing. An ABC affiliate reported that various electronics like a PlayStation have been seized so far.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Aug. 1. Shawndrea Thomas, a spokesperson for the Pima County Attorney's Office, said official charges will be announced by then.