A tragic incident has shaken Arizona, where a father is charged with murder after his two-year-old daughter died in a hot car while he was allegedly playing on his PlayStation.

Christopher Scholtes, a 37-year-old resident of Arizona, returned home from shopping with his daughter, Parker. Unable to park in the garage, he left the car outside. Parker fell asleep in the car, and Christopher claimed he left her there for half an hour so as not to wake her. However, the reality was quite different.

Investigations revealed that Scholtes spent over three hours inside the house, unpacking and likely playing on his PlayStation, while his daughter perished in the car, where temperatures soared above 104°F. Upon discovering her, the parents called 911 and, with the arriving medics, attempted to revive Parker but were unsuccessful.

Arizona dad ‘distracted’ by PlayStation while daughter, 2, died in hot car — as mom’s texts reveal alarming pattern: ‘How many times have I told you?’ https://t.co/zTBcOGNP9v pic.twitter.com/RHXzvNIPQl

— New York Post (@nypost) July 16, 2024

Reports indicate that the mother later sent a surprising text message to her husband, scolding him for leaving the child in the car. This suggests that this was not an isolated incident. The couple’s other two children confirmed to the police that their father regularly left them in the car while he was inside the house.

Christopher defended himself by claiming he had left the car’s air conditioning on, but he omitted the fact that he knew the cooling system automatically shuts off after half an hour. The court is charging the father with murder and child endangerment. His wife argued that this one major mistake does not represent her husband’s character and asked the judge to allow him to return home so they could mourn and bury Parker together.

Investigators have seized not only the PlayStation console but also other electronic devices, but it is unclear how the court will rule. The situation is worsened by the fact that Scholtes’ own testimony did not match the security camera footage, which showed the child was in the car for much longer than stated. While some may blame video games for this terrible incident, current information clearly indicates that the father’s negligence led to the tragedy.

Source: KPLC 7