DEEPLY disturbing new crime scene images lay bare the horrific final moments of a two-year-old girl who died after being abandoned in a scorching hot SUV by her own dad.
Little Parker Scholtes perished in the back of the family‘s 2023 Acura MDX as temperatures soared to 109 degrees F. (42 degrees celcius) in Marana, Arizona, last July.
Newly obtained photos show tiny hand prints smeared inside the SUV’s rear driver’s side window – chilling evidence of Parker’s desperate struggle in the lethal heat.
The marks sit just inches from her forward-facing car seat, where officers later found surface temperatures had reached a blistering 149 degrees F. (65 degrees celcius).
On the floor below her dangling feet, police spotted an iPad in a pink case and two small pink sandals – heartbreaking reminders of the toddler’s final moments.
The west-facing window had taken the full force of the afternoon sun, causing the interior heat to rise at terrifying speed.
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One haunting photo suggests Parker may have clawed at the glass as she fought for air in the sweltering SUV.
Her dad, a 38-year-old Christopher Scholtes, left her strapped into her car seat for nearly three-hours – while he said inside the air-conditioned home, drinking beer, gaming and watching porn.
Parker’s lifeless body was discovered when her mum Erika, 37, returned from a shift as a anaesthesiologist at the very same hospital their daughter was later pronounced dead.
Scholtes took his own life just months later – killing himself via carbon monoxide poisoning on November 5, the day he was due to report to prison and begin serving a 20-30 year sentence for second degree murder.
Another shows the shredded pink floral dress she was wearing – cut open by paramedics as they battled to save her inside the family kitchen.
Even seasoned officers struggled in the brutal weather.
Reports say they were forced to take repeated breaks in air-conditioned cars, throw cold water over themselves and request extra drinks to avoid heatstroke.
One officer wrote: “I placed my hand on the hood of the car… within about a second I began to feel a burning sensation and had to pull it away.”
Scholtes later told police he had left Parker in the running SUV with the air-conditioning on because she had fallen asleep.
But he “lost track of time” – and police testing revealed the engine automatically shut off after around 20 minutes, trapping Parker in rising heat.
At the time, Scholtes claimed he believed she had come inside and was playing with her sisters. “I swore she was in the house… I’ve just been resting and icing,” he told officers, saying he was taking painkillers for sciatica.
The father had suffered two broken vertebrae in a 2019 car crash and regularly used ice packs – one of which was found on the couch.
But his two surviving daughters told detectives the truth: their dad had been glued to his PlayStation 5.
Police found the lounge room set up exactly for that – a headset and controller on the coffee table next to an open Dr Pepper can, a pillow and blanket positioned perfectly to face the TV.
Phone analysis showed Scholtes had also been browsing clothing sales and watching adult videos as Parker died outside.
After paramedics rushed Parker to hospital, officers said Scholtes became agitated, pacing the house and attempting to shower.
He was stopped by police who needed to collect evidence. “I’m being treated like a murderer, I just lost my baby,” he protested, repeatedly demanding to shower.
At one point he ducked under crime scene tape and tried to get into the SUV, saying he needed items before it was impounded. He backed off only when Erika urged him inside.
His daughters later told police their father cried all night, sobbing that it was his fault – though one child insisted “it was actually a ‘little accident’.”
Detectives noted the girls appeared to have been coached by relatives, telling officers they needed to say he was “a good dad.”
Erika said the same during her interview, calling it “a really terrible mistake” and insisting her husband was “having a really hard time with it.”
She also claimed things had been improving because he had quit drinking three months earlier – something police later proved untrue.
Security footage captured Scholtes secretly shoplifting three cans of beer before heading home that day – drinking one in a gas station bathroom before leaving Parker in the SUV.
Despite everything, Erika stood by him until the end – even petitioning for his release and buying a $1 million villa-style home in Phoenix in April.
Scholtes rejected a plea deal in March that would have sent him to prison for up to ten years. Six months later, he accepted a harsher 20–30-year sentence with no parole.
But he was allowed to remain free on bail until November 5 – time he used to plan his suicide.
That morning, officers found him dead in his parked car in the family garage.
Scholtes has a recorded history of neglectful behaviour with his oldest daughter – who is now 16 years old.
He shared her with a previous partner.
Investigators were told he would also leave his eldest daughter and Parker’s siblings in the car alone long enough for the air-conditioning to switch off.
Fortunately, his oldest daughter had known how to restart the car, stopping disaster from striking sooner.
She allegedly suffered abuse at the hands of her father, where on one occasion she called the police.
She reported being too scared to return home because she’d lost money and was worried Scholtes would hit her.
Department of Child Service investigators reported the girl told them she would “frequently be slapped, thrown, have her hair pulled, have her head pushed into walls and be picked up by her shirt or her arm”.
Scholtes lost custody of the girl after her mother died earlier in the year.
How to get help
EVERY 90 minutes in the UK a life is lost to suicide
It doesn’t discriminate, touching the lives of people in every corner of society – from the homeless and unemployed to builders and doctors, reality stars and footballers.
It’s the biggest killer of people under the age of 35, more deadly than cancer and car crashes.
And men are three times more likely to take their own life than women.
Yet it’s rarely spoken of, a taboo that threatens to continue its deadly rampage unless we all stop and take notice, now.
If you, or anyone you know, needs help dealing with mental health problems, the following organisations provide support: