Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - 6 Disturbing Details of 2-Year-Old's Hot Car Death While Dad Played Video Games

Starting point is 00:00:00 Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law and Crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. I'm standing by. Why can't I take a shower while you stand by? What is... It's not necessary right now. I'm not going to stand here and watch you shower. There'll be time for that, but it's not right now, okay? New details about what police say happened the day a two-year-old girl was left in a hot car in Arizona and died are coming to light. I detail six disturbing revelations from the death of Parker Schultes. Welcome to Crime Fix. I'm Anjanette Levy. The day

Starting point is 00:00:38 that Parker Schultes died in her family's driveway last month outside of Tucson, Arizona, police say it was 109 degrees outside. Officers say Christopher Schultes left his two-year-old daughter in his car after returning home. The car, the police report says, was in direct sunlight and hot to the touch. Christopher Schultes had told law enforcement that day that Parker was only in the car for 45 minutes. I'm sorry this is all going on. We always park that car in the garage usually, but I just got a Peloton recently, and the Peloton is in the garage now, so that's why it's not even in the garage. And how long was she sleeping in the car out there?

Starting point is 00:01:16 I want to say it was no more than 30, 45 minutes, and I don't think the air was off that entire time. I think there was a time in between. I checked on her last. It was still running. She was still sleeping. And then when I went back out, the car was off. But police would later say that security cameras and Schultes' own children showed that that wasn't true and that Parker had actually been in the car from 12.52 p.m. until her mom came home from work sometime around four. That's more than three hours. Police body cameras captured the aftermath. She's dead. Like, I need to be with her.

Starting point is 00:01:52 Oh, my God. My nose. No. No. No. She's dead. She's dead. We're nothing. The day after Parker died, her older sisters were interviewed by detectives. A report states that one of her older siblings started the interview by saying, quote, her dad has accidentally left Parker in the car and that her mom had tried

Starting point is 00:02:32 to do CPR, but that she didn't know that she was already dead. The girl then added that her parents had told her to tell investigators something very specific. The report said that her mom and dad told her that she needed to go there today so she could talk to them about how her baby sister died and that she needed to tell them that he is a good dad and that it was just an accident. The girl continued and said that her big sister, her mom, grandma, uncles, her papa, basically her entire family had all told her that her dad was a good dad and that this was an accident. At one point, she called it a little accident. Several times, the girl said that her

Starting point is 00:03:12 dad, quote, was going to get her baby sister but forgot on accident and that sometimes you can get distracted very easily. The younger Shultz's daughter was asked what her dad was doing. She said he was bringing in food from the car like chili, cheese, bacon, sausage, and eggs, and he became distracted. The girl then said she thought her dad got distracted by playing his game and putting some food away. The girl said that her dad plays this Super Mario game and a game where you have to kill scorpions and where you have to kill aliens. The child said her dad sat on the couch when he played his game and the car was making a whir sound as it did when it was

Starting point is 00:03:50 moving, but she said the car was actually off. The girl also said that her dad had left her and her siblings in the car 59 times, and she said he had also left her in the car sleeping when she was a little baby and when she was a toddler. She said another time her father had left her in the car sleeping when she was a little baby and when she was a toddler. She said another time her father had left her in the car sleeping after dropping her older sister off at school, and she had to yell daddy daddy for him to come get her. That time, the girl said her dad was also playing video games. The girl also said that, quote, usually her mom will get mad at her dad when he does something he's not supposed to do, like drink too much beer. He still drinks too much beer, and he keeps leaving us in the car

Starting point is 00:04:30 when my mom told him to stop doing that. That's how my baby's sister died. The older sibling was also interviewed by investigators. The report said the girl told detectives that her dad is actually innocent and that her parents told her to tell the truth. The report says, when I got back, he was taking groceries out of the car and then he turned off the car and my baby sister was in there. And my mom came home and she started talking and said, where's the baby? And we started looking around the house. And then my dad started screaming because he walked outside and he saw that she was still in the car. The girl said that her dad takes care of them really well, but that he does play video games and that he had

Starting point is 00:05:11 played them that morning. Then the girl told detectives that she knew her dad had turned off the car because he told me about like the story of how she died. He said that he was about to get her, but he kind of got distracted. He turned off the car and did not realize she was in there. This is what Schultes told police about how long Parker was in the car. What happened today? We went to go back around and we just came home. My daughters were at Elevate with my friend next door. They got home about 2.45 or so.

Starting point is 00:05:59 And then we've just been hanging out at home. She was sleeping in the car, and I had the car on, but it has a sensor where every 30 minutes or so it'll turn off if you haven't moved. I swore she was in the house playing with her sisters like she always does. I've just been right now. I haven't been doing anything else really on the house. And... Oh, my God.

Starting point is 00:06:33 This is just fucking life. Like... We never do this anywhere, but on the home, right? Like, you're home. You're safe. Like, your kids are home. The police report noted that officers seized Christopher Schultes' PlayStation. They said the PlayStation was powered on in the TV stand, but the TV was off. The headset and controller were on the coffee table next to a half-empty bottle of Dr. Pepper that was room temperature.

Starting point is 00:07:02 The report also noted that the pillow on the couch was positioned so someone could see the TV. We cover so many awful cases here on Crime Fix, like the death of Parker Schultes, and we can do that because of sponsors like Morgan & Morgan. Morgan & Morgan has more than 1,000 attorneys that you may want in your corner if you're ever hurt. Morgan & Morgan has won several multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements recently for victims who were in life-altering car crashes, all of which were considerably higher than the highest insurance company offer. Starting a claim takes eight clicks or less, and you can do it all from your smartphone. And there are no upfront fees. You only pay Morgan & Morgan if you win. So if you're ever hurt, you can easily start a claim in eight

Starting point is 00:07:45 clicks or less at ForThePeople.com slash CrimeFix. Kurt Altman is a criminal defense attorney in Arizona. I want to bring him in to talk about this case. Kurt, your first thoughts on Christopher Schultes being charged now with first degree murder. Well, first of all, my first thoughts on this whole ordeal is it's a tragedy. But first-degree murder is something else. You know, there's two types of first-degree murder in Arizona. One is the intentional and premeditated murder of someone. The other is felony murder. So a death taking place during the course of a different felony, which I suspect is how he was charged with first

Starting point is 00:08:25 degree murder in this case. And he is facing that child abuse charge. So that likely is the underlying felony. And that's how the grand jury got to first degree murder. There are a lot of disturbing details in this case in particular. And, you know, I think this might be different from a lot of the other cases we see where parents leave their kids in the car, obviously unintentionally, and they sadly pass away. I've covered, sadly, many of these over the years where the parents aren't charged. But it sounds like there were some forensic interviews done of the children, the siblings of Parker, and those siblings said that this is something dad routinely did. And we also have a text message from Christopher Schultes' wife, and she's telling him, I've told you how many times not to leave the kids

Starting point is 00:09:18 in the car. So do you think that's part of the reason they opted to charge Christopher Schultes in this case? Oh, I think 100%. You know, often this is an accident. The parents are just devastated. They're distracted, whatever takes place. But here it seems like there's a pattern. I think from what, you know, I've seen, as you said, the other children have been left in the car at other times. And then this text message between his wife and him clearly indicates that he has knowledge. He's done this type of thing before and then set out to do it again. And then I think in something you may have sent me that I read, he didn't tell the police the truth. He said he came home at a certain time and witnesses or cameras show that he was home much earlier than that, meaning the timeline of that child being in the backseat is much longer than he admits to. He had said initially he came home at 2.45, but all of the security cameras from the neighbors show he was home at 12.52.

Starting point is 00:10:21 So that little child, that little two-year-old was in the car for three hours before anyone tended to her. You know, Kurt, how do you as a defense attorney defend this case based on the facts that we have in front of us right now? I mean, we know Christopher Schultes loved his daughter. You know, I don't think anybody thinks he intentionally did this, but this is a hard case given some of the bad facts we have in front of us. So how do you defend him? Yeah, I think there's probably a couple of things you're going to have to look at. The overall goal to defend is to show that there was no intent here.

Starting point is 00:11:00 Certainly, he didn't intend to kill the child, but there wasn't even an intent under the law of recklessness or negligence. That's going to be really difficult. I think it's going to be 115 degrees here in Arizona today. So to say that you're not at least negligent, which is a criminal intent element, or reckless, that's going to be hard, but that's what you try to do. And I think showing that pattern may be a way to show that he lacked the intent that maybe he thought this was all right obviously we we know it's not but he's done it before it's worked out before he left the air conditioning on for the

Starting point is 00:11:37 child this was just an honest mistake as opposed to a reckless act a reckless child abuse I mean it's going to be a tough road, especially with some of these facts, but I think that's what you have to look at first. As a defense attorney, is this the type of case that you say, you know, when you get it, when you get the discovery, you say to yourself, I don't think we should take this to trial. I mean, I find it hard to believe unless the prosecution wants to make an example out of him. And I'm saying this based on what we know right now. If you're his defense attorney, aren't you going to try to want to work something out? Because if he's convicted of first degree

Starting point is 00:12:16 murder, he's going to prison for a very, very, very long time. Yeah, you're right. I mean, first degree murder in Arizona, even felony murder like, is life. It's natural life or a life sentence with the possibility of release. So forever, probably. So yes, you obviously, from the beginning, try to look and mitigate this as much as possible. Is that some sort of plea agreement that reduces it from first-degree murder, maybe a child abuse count that allows him to get out and be productive or potentially be productive sometime in the future. You know, one of the other things I think I'd do is I'd have him evaluated right away. I mean, does he not have the necessary mental capacities or something out there that maybe we can't use as a defense,

Starting point is 00:13:00 but something within him that we can use to mitigate, present to the prosecution, go, hey, this is why he should not be found guilty of first degree murder. Let's do something better and try to work out a deal. How important is it that his wife, at least at the bail hearing, she stood up and said, look, I want him to come home. He made a terrible mistake. How much will that factor into the prosecution of this case, if at all? Well, I think the prosecution will take that into account. That might not change their views, but in Arizona, we have a victim's bill of rights. She technically is the next of kin, the biological mother. She's the victim. So she has a say. She can't decide how the case is going

Starting point is 00:13:41 to resolve, but she certainly has a right to be heard by the prosecutor and the court. So the fact that she's supportive of him, that she's saying he needs to come home, it was a mistake. That's going to be really helpful. You know, if he is distraught, which I'm sure he is, any parent in this situation would be. If that is genuine and that is seen and he has the support of the families, hopefully the prosecution will take that into account and work something out. The older children told law enforcement in a forensic interview, according to the documents, that he became distracted by a video game and food and the house was very busy. I mean, his own children are telling law enforcement that. It just doesn't seem to be something that bodes well for him.

Starting point is 00:14:28 No. Like you said, in the business, we call those bad facts. Those are not good facts for him because it just shows a lack. If I'm the prosecutor, I'm like, this shows an absolute lack of caring or understanding or concern really for a two-year-old child. He's playing video games while his child's sleeping in the car. I think somewhere he said, or I've read has been reported that he's like, well, I left the air conditioning on and I have an alert on my car. But still, if I'm the prosecutor, I'm like video games are more important to him than a two-year-old child in the backseat of his car. That is not a good fact. That is really bad for the defense. Well, and leaving a child in the car with it running at all, because somebody could still come and steal your car with your child in it, even if you're parked in your own driveway. I mean, that's what I think. I don't leave my child in the car with it running for any amount of time, especially in Arizona, where it's so hot in the middle of July.

Starting point is 00:15:31 You know, again, that kind of would take me back to, hey, we should have this guy evaluated. What's going on with him? What normal person would leave a child in a car? One, in Arizona, like you said, 110, 115 degrees, and two to play a video game. Like, what kind of person does that? There must be some sort of defect, some sort of mental block, something that makes him make poor decisions. And that could be mitigating. Again, that might not be a defense, but it certainly could mitigate the case. Yeah. Kurt Altman, thank you so much. Thanks a lot. Great to be here.

Starting point is 00:16:05 Christopher Schultes has pleaded not guilty to a first degree murder charge and a child abuse charge. He will be back in court sometime next month. And that is it for this episode of Crime Fix. I'm Anjanette Levy. Thanks so much for being with me. I'll see you back here next time.

Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - 6 Disturbing Details of 2-Year-Old's Hot Car Death While Dad Played Video Games

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