A man facing at least 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to the murder of his own daughter has died ahead of his sentencing.
Christopher Scholtes, 38, from Phoenix, Arizona, accidentally left his two-year-old daughter Parker alone in a hot car as temperatures climbed to over 40C.
After returning from a shopping trip, he reportedly left Parker inside the vehicle while he played video games. During this time, he also allegedly searched for pornography for two minutes, according to prosecutors, although a judge barred them from mentioning this if the case had gone to trial.
Scholtes’ wife Erika heartbreakingly discovered the child when she returned home three hours later.
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Following Scholtes’ death, which was announced yesterday (November 5) Pima County Attorney Laura Conover said in a statement: “This is obviously extraordinarily complicated and we extend our deepest sympathies and sorrow to all the loved ones who have suffered the loss of this beautiful baby girl and now another loss to his family.”
His cause of death is under investigation, with the results of a pending autopsy not set to be released until next year.
According to court documents, Erika texted Scholtes to say she had previously reminded him to ‘stop leaving [their kids] in the car’ as their daughter was rushed to the hospital.
Scholtes responded: “Babe I'm sorry! ... Babe our family. How could I do this. I killed our baby, this can't be real.”
One of his elder daughters also told police: “He keeps leaving us in the car when my mom told him to stop doing this. That’s how he made my baby sister die.”
Nevertheless, Kristina had pleaded for Scholtes to be allowed to come home so the family could grieve together.
She told a judge: “I’m just asking if you can allow him to come home to us so that we can all start the grieving process so he can bury our daughter with us ... and that we can go through this whole process together as a family.”
Scholtes died the day before he was due to hand himself in to authorities to remain in custody until his sentencing on November 21.
He originally pleaded not guilty to murder and child abuse, but changed his plea last month. This meant that he was facing between 20 and 30 years in prison without the possibility of early release, according to PEOPLE.
If he hadn’t pleaded guilty and the case had gone to trial, he could have faced life imprisonment and even the death penalty.
Simon Fearn