A 38-year-old father in Arizona charged with the hot-car death of his young daughter has been granted permission by a state court judge to travel to Hawaii with his wife and two surviving children. Judge Kimberly Ortiz granted Christopher Scholtes’ vacation request last month. Scholtes is currently charged with first-degree murder and child abuse in the death of 2-year-old Parker Scholtes in July 2024.
Authorities allege that Scholtes left Parker sleeping inside the family’s 2023 Acura MDX, which was parked in front of their house for several hours, because he became “distracted” while playing video games and putting food away. It is also claimed that Scholtes frequently left the children in the car unattended.
According to the Tucson CBS affiliate KOLD, Ortiz’s order stated the following:
“Defendant, CHRISTOPHER SCHOLTES, through counsel, hereby respectfully requests the court’s permission to travel to Maui, Hawaii from May 1, 2025, through May 9, 2025. Defendant, his wife and their two daughters will be traveling to Hawaii for a family vacation.”
Ortiz concluded the order by writing, “The travel requested is approved.”
While allowing him to travel, Ortiz’s order reportedly stipulates that Scholtes remain in contact with pretrial services and have no unsupervised contact with any children.
Pima County Attorney Laura Conover expressed her displeasure with the judge’s decision in a statement to Tucson NBC affiliate KVOA.
“The public record would show that the defendant and his counsel requested permission from the court to travel out-of-state,” she reportedly told the station. “Our prosecutors vigorously objected. The court granted permission over our objections.”
As previously reported by Law&Crime, after the incident with Parker, authorities spoke with Scholtes’ two other daughters, ages 5 and 9, who allegedly confirmed that he would frequently leave them alone in the car. According to KOLD, Scholtes came home from running errands and then “he got distracted by playing his (video) game and putting his food away,” according to police.
Text messages between Scholtes and his wife, an anesthesiologist, also appear to indicate that Scholtes had a habit of leaving his children in the car unattended.
“I told you to stop leaving them in the car, how many times have I told you,” she texted him as Parker was on her way to the hospital, according to Tuscson NBC affiliate KVOA.
“Babe, I’m sorry,” Scholtes reportedly responded.
His wife continued, writing, “We have lost her; she was perfect.”
Scholtes then replied, “Babe.” Our family. How could I do this? “I killed our baby; this cannot be true.”
In an interview with police, Scholtes allegedly stated that he arrived home with Parker around 2 p.m. and did not take her out of the car because he “wanted her to remain in the vehicle while she slept.” However, footage from a security camera showed that he arrived home at 12:53 p.m. and did not leave. He reportedly ran outside to check on Parker after his wife arrived home shortly after 4 p.m. and asked where she was.
“Video surveillance obtained does not show Christopher [Scholtes] checking on his vehicle or daughter,” police stated in an affidavit, according to USA Today. “When she asked where the 2-year-old was, he began to check the rooms of the home and then realized he had left her in the vehicle.”
KOLD also reported that, while Scholtes told authorities he left the Acura SUV running with the air conditioner turned on, he was aware that the vehicle had a safety feature that would turn it off after 30 minutes.
When the couple called 911, the outside temperature was reported to be 109 degrees. Parker’s mother administered CPR until emergency medical personnel arrived, but they were unable to revive the toddler.
In addition to seizing the car Parker was left in, police reportedly seized the PlayStation gaming console that allegedly distracted Scholtes from checking on his daughter.
Despite reports that Scholtes frequently left their children in the car unattended, his wife appeared in court shortly after Parker’s death and petitioned the judge to allow him to return home to assist with the healing process.
“This was a huge mistake, and I don’t think it represents him,” she said in a video obtained by KVOA. “And I just want that the girls to see their father so that I don’t have to tell them tonight that they’re going to endure another loss.”
Scholtes, who reportedly turned down a deal last month that would have required him to plead guilty to one count of second-degree murder and face up to 25 years in prison, is now scheduled to stand trial on October 27, 2025.