Father Charged with Murder Allowed to Travel Before Trial
An Arizona father, Christopher Scholtes, 38, faces serious charges after the tragic death of his 2-year-old daughter. He has been charged with first-degree murder for allegedly leaving her alone in a car for three hours while he played video games.
Despite these charges, Scholtes was granted permission to take a trip to Hawaii with his wife and two surviving daughters from May 1 to May 9. A judge in Pima County approved his request following a hearing on April 15.
This trip comes nearly ten months after his daughter’s death. According to court documents, Scholtes’ wife found their young daughter unconscious in the vehicle after three hours. The temperature inside the car reached a scorching 109 degrees.
Scholtes reportedly told the police that he left the air conditioning on while his daughter slept in her car seat. However, he knew that the car’s engine would turn off automatically after 30 minutes, as stated in the complaint.
The two remaining daughters, aged 6 and 9, told detectives that their father had left them alone in the car for long periods in the past. Text messages between Scholtes and his wife suggested that she had repeatedly warned him against such actions, expressing her concerns: "I told you to stop leaving them in the car."
In light of the evidence, the Pima County Attorney’s Office charged Scholtes with first-degree murder and child abuse. He pleaded not guilty to both charges. In March, he declined a plea deal that would have reduced the charge to second-degree murder in exchange for a guilty plea.
As part of the conditions of his travel, Scholtes must adhere to all parole conditions, keep in touch with pretrial services during the trip, and avoid any unsupervised contact with children, including his own. Prosecutors had asked the court to take away his passport before the trip, but this request was denied.
His trial is scheduled to begin on October 27, having been postponed from an earlier September date. If found guilty, Scholtes could face a life sentence in prison.
