Christopher Scholtes, 38, was charged with first-degree murder in the death of his two-year-old daughter, who was left in his car while he played video games, and is set to stand trial later this year
A father charged with murdering his two-year-old daughter was granted permission to vacation with his family in Hawaii ahead of his trial later this year.
Arizona man Christopher Scholtes, 38, reportedly requested to travel to Hawaii with his wife and two surviving daughters from May 1 to May 9, according to court documents filed in Pima County Superior Court. On April 3, Judge Kimberly Ortiz agreed to consider the request, and after a hearing on April 15, she approved Scholtes’ petition. The trip comes 10 months after Scholtes’ two-year-old daughter tragically died, allegedly after being left in his car while he played video games.
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According to an interim complaint, Scholtes’ wife found their daughter unconscious in the vehicle after returning home three hours later. At the time, the car’s interior temperature had reached 43C (109F).
Scholtes reportedly told Marana Police detectives that after running errands that day, he left his daughter in the car with the air conditioning on while she slept in her car seat. He allegedly knew that his car’s engine shuts off automatically after 30 minutes.
Scholtes’ two other daughters, then six and nine years old, also reportedly told detectives that their father had previously left them alone in the car for extended periods. In a text exchange, his wife allegedly warned him repeatedly to stop leaving the children in the vehicle.
“I told you to stop leaving them in the car, how many times have I told you,” his wife wrote, per the complaint.
“Babe, I’m sorry,” Scholtes responded. “We’ve lost her, she was perfect,” wrote his wife.
“Babe our family. How could I do this. I killed our baby, this can’t be real,” he replied.
After reviewing the evidence, the Pima County Attorney’s Office charged Scholtes with first-degree murder and intentional child abuse.
At his arraignment, he pleaded not guilty to both charges. In March, Scholtes rejected a plea deal from prosecutors, which would have reduced the charge to second-degree murder if he had pleaded guilty, according to PEOPLE.
Just days after rejecting the plea deal, Scholtes petitioned the court to allow him to travel to Maui with his family. Judge Ortiz approved the request but stipulated that Scholtes must comply with all parole conditions, including contacting pretrial services throughout the trip. Additionally, he was prohibited from having unsupervised contact with children, including his own.
Prosecutors sought to have Scholtes surrender his passport before the trip, but Judge Ortiz denied this motion.
Scholtes’ trial is scheduled to begin on October 27, after being delayed from its original September start date. If convicted, Scholtes faces a potential life sentence in prison.