Parker Scholtes‘ mother discovered her lifeless body inside a family vehicle in Marana, Arizona, in July 2024. It was 109 degrees outside when Parker’s father, Christopher Scholtes, allegedly left his 2-year-old daughter inside his Acura MDX with the air-conditioning on. Scholtes reportedly went inside to play video games and left Parker alone.
His wife, Erika Scholtes, found Parker dead inside the car about three hours later. Scholtes now faces murder charges in his young daughter’s death, but it appears he enjoyed a relaxing vacation before the trial.
Per court documents obtained by KOLD, Scholtes wanted to vacation with his wife and two surviving children.
“Defendant, CHRISTOPHER SCHOLTES, through counsel, hereby respectfully requests the court’s permission to travel to Maui, Hawaii from May 1, 2025, through May 9, 2025. Defendant, (that’s Scholtes) his wife and their two daughters will be traveling to Hawaii for a family vacation,” the document states.
Judge Kimberly Ortiz, reportedly granted Scholtes permission to travel.
“The travel requested is approved,” Ortiz noted, KOLD reported. “The Defendant shall contact Pretrial Services upon leaving the State of Arizona, shall continue contact with Pretrial Services while outside of the State of Arizona, and shall contact Pretrial Services upon his return.”
“The Defendant shall further have no unsupervised contact with children,” Ortiz ordered.
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According to court documents obtained by People, Scholtes’ daughters reportedly told investigators their father left them in the car for extended periods of time in the past.
Additionally, per KOLD, investigators obtained text exchanges between the couple, in which Erika Scholtes admonished her husband’s behavior.
“I told you to stop leaving them in the car, How many times have I told you,” she reportedly wrote.
“Babe, I’m sorry,” the father allegedly wrote.
“We’ve lost her, she was perfect,” she responded.
“Babe our family. How could I do this? I killed our baby, this can’t be real,” he allegedly responded.
People reported that Scholtes rejected a plea deal in March that would have reduced his charge to second-degree murder. He now faces charges of first-degree murder and intentional child abuse. If convicted, he could spend life in prison.
