A two-year-old girl, Parker Scholtes, died after being left alone in a car for three hours during an intense heatwave on Tuesday, July 9, 2024. The incident occurred in the residential area of the Paseo Rancho Acero neighborhood in Marana, just outside of Tucson, Arizona.
The Marana Police Department (MPD) reported that the child’s father, Christopher Scholtes, 37, arrived home around 12:53 p.m. while his daughter was asleep in the backseat. Believing it would be safe, he left the car running with the air conditioning on and went inside the house. Surveillance video contradicted his initial statement, in which he claimed he returned around 2:45 p.m.
When the girl’s mother, Erika, an anesthesiologist, arrived home around 4 p.m., she discovered Parker unresponsive in the car, which was no longer running and had the air conditioning off. She began CPR and emergency services were called immediately.
According to MPD, authorities arrived shortly after 4 p.m. and attempted to resuscitate the child. Despite their efforts, she was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital at 4:58 p.m.
“We are conducting interviews with the father, witnesses, and neighbors to establish whether the car was still running and if the air conditioning was functioning,” said Captain Tim Brunenkant of the Marana Police Department. “What we know for certain is that the car was extremely hot, the child was unresponsive, and it’s a very tragic situation.”
According to the National Weather Service, the temperature in Marana on the day of the incident was over 110 degrees Fahrenheit. Such extreme heat can be lethal, especially for young children, who are more susceptible to heatstroke and other heat-related illnesses.
The father told police he had left the car running with the air conditioning on, as he had done before, trusting that the vehicle’s safety systems would alert him if the car shut off. However, this time, the alert did not occur. Scholtes was arrested early Friday morning on second -degree murder and child abuse charges. He was released on $25,000 bail as his wife pleaded for leniency from the judge, saying this was all a big mistake and she needed her husband home so they could grieve together.
This incident is part of a disturbing trend of hot car deaths in Arizona. Since 1994, the state has recorded 47 such fatalities, ranking fourth in the nation for these types of tragedies. Experts stress the importance of never leaving children alone in vehicles, no matter how brief the period.
Dr. Lindsey Finnegan, a pediatrician with First Physicians Group, emphasized the dangers of hot cars. “Many parents don’t realize that a child’s body heats up 3-5 times faster than an adult’s,” she said. “When a child’s temperature gets to 104 degrees, major organs begin to shut down. When a child’s temperature reaches 107 degrees, the child can die.”
As the summer heat intensifies, safety experts remind caregivers to create reminders to check the backseat and ensure that no child is left behind in a car. Simple actions, like placing an essential item next to the child’s seat or setting a phone alarm, can prevent such accidents.
