An Arizona dad who killed himself to avoid spending decades in prison after leaving his 2-year-old daughter to die in a hot car ended his life in a chillingly similar way — by suffocating himself inside his vehicle. Christopher Scholtes, 38, was found dead early in the morning on November 5 in the garage of his Phoenix home, which he shared with his wife, Dr. Erika Scholtes.
Authorities believe Scholtes took his own life the night before. While the exact cause of death has not yet been confirmed, the Maricopa County Medical Examiner told the Daily Mail that it is likely carbon monoxide poisoning. Police have ruled the case a suicide.
Tragic End
Family members also clarified that the car he died in was not the same one in which his two-year-old daughter, Parker, died. Scholtes' death has an eerie resemblance to the way his young daughter died — left inside a hot car for more than three hours on a scorching summer day in 2024 while he stayed inside their home.
At the time, prosecutors said Scholtes had been drinking beer, watching porn, and playing video games as Parker sat trapped in the vehicle outside.
He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in October and was facing up to 30 years in prison. His sentence was set to begin on November 5 — but instead, he took his own life the day before, escaping justice for his daughter's tragic death.
"This little girl's voice was nearly silenced because justice was not served appropriately this morning," Pima County Attorney Laura Conover said in a statement after his death.
Scholtes left behind a wife and three other young daughters.
Punishing Himself
On that fateful July day, temperatures in the Arizona desert soared to a blistering 109 degrees as little Parker sat trapped inside the family car. Her mother came home to a horrifying scene, discovering her daughter's lifeless body.
Scholtes reportedly tried to tell responding officers that he had left Parker in the car for no more than 45 minutes, but he admitted he knew the car's engine and air conditioner would automatically shut off after 30 minutes, leaving her trapped in the deadly heat.
Scholtes was reportedly well aware of the dangers — leaving his children unattended in cars was allegedly a disturbingly common practice for him.
In a lawsuit filed just days before his death, his eldest daughter, 17, from a previous marriage, claimed that he had left her alone in cars for hours at a time starting when she was "younger than 7." This suggests that Scholtes had been putting his children at risk for more than a decade before little Parker's death.
Other children also told investigators that he often left them in the car while he stayed inside the house.
Even his wife had confronted him about the dangerous behavior. After Parker's death, she texted him in anger, writing, "I told you to stop leaving them in the car."
"How many times have I told you?" she said.
"Babe, I'm sorry," Scholtes replied. "Babe, our family. How could I do this? I killed our baby, this can't be real."
His eldest daughter also claimed that she was regularly neglected and even physically abused by him. She alleged that he went so far as to falsify a conservatorship over her in order to collect government support checks.
"As a result, Plaintiff suffered severe emotional distress, anxiety, depression, suicidal ideations, post traumatic stress, and long-term psychological harm," her lawsuit read.
