Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - Shocking Video Shows Dad Hysterical After Allegedly Killing Daughter in Hot Car

Episode Date: August 15, 2024

Minutes after Christopher Scholtes and his wife, Erika Scholtes, discovered their 2-year-old daughter, Parker, had been left in a hot car, police in Marana, Arizona were on the scene with body-worn cameras recording. EMT's tried to save Parker's life but it was too late. Officers recorded Scholtes explaining what happened and his reaction to the situation. Law&Crime's Angenette Levy breaks down the video and what Christopher Scholtes said happened that day in this episode of Crime Fix — a daily show covering the biggest stories in crime.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW: If you’re ever injured in an accident, you can check out Morgan & Morgan. You can submit a claim in 8 clicks or less without having to leave your couch. To start your claim, visit: https://www.forthepeople.com/CrimeFixHost:Angenette Levy  https://twitter.com/Angenette5CRIME FIX PRODUCTION:Head of Social Media, YouTube - Bobby SzokeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinVideo Editing - Daniel CamachoGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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. So I'm being treated like a murderer? No. I just lost my video. Not at all. That's Christopher Schultes right after his daughter Parker was found in a hot car in

their driveway. We have the footage and what Schultes told 9-1-1 and detectives that day last month. Welcome to Crime Fix, I'm Anjanette Levy. Christopher Schultes was distraught when his wife came home from work on July 9th and found their daughter in a car in their driveway in Marana, Arizona, just outside of Tucson. Parker was only two years old, and Schultes had left the little girl in her car seat after returning home hours earlier. Christopher Schultes and his wife, Erica Schultes, she's actually an anesthesiologist, called 911 after Erica returned home and asked where Parker was, and she She was in the car sleeping. She's unresponsive.

Okay. And who is she? Please, please, please. My daughter. My daughter. Please, please, please. And this was out in the driveway? Yes.

Is she still breathing? No, she's not breathing right now. Okay, we need to start CPR right now. Yes, we are. We're starting CPR, yes. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. How long has it been?

Half hour. It was, but it turns off. I've been checking. Oh, My God. Okay, is she breathing yet? Is she breathing? No. Police would later say that Christopher Schultes' claim that he checked on Parker was not true. Erica Schultes tried to revive Parker by performing CPR. EMTs also tried to save her as Christopher stood by.

Anything? Anything? Oh my God. CPR. EMTs also tried to save her as Christopher stood by. The body camera footage is blurry at many points, but you can see Christopher Schultes pacing in the background, his hands around his head. What's going on? Why are you with me? Because we were first responders and we were on scene. When they call us, anything like this happens, they call us. Christopher Schultes then talks about his car. It's parked in the driveway. He said he left Parker in it with the A.C. on, just as he claimed in that 911 call. The A.C. was on. Are you guys all here for my MDX? The one parked outside? The black one?

The blue. They're blue. Are you guys here for me? We're... We want to do everything we can at all. That's why you have so many awful cases here on Crime Fix, like the death of Parker Schultes. We can do that because we have sponsors like Morgan & Morgan. Morgan & Morgan has more than 1,000 attorneys that

you can count on to be in your corner if you are injured. Morgan & Morgan has won several multimillion-dollar verdicts and settlements recently for victims who were in life-altering car crashes, all of which were considerably higher than the highest insurance offer. Starting a claim takes eight clicks or less, and you can do it all on your smartphone. And there are no upfront fees. You only pay Morgan & Morgan if you win. So if you are hurt, you can easily start a claim in eight clicks or less at ForThePeople.com slash CrimeFix. Now, Christopher Schultes is clearly upset and worried. What parent wouldn't be? There's no other way to put it. He's distraught and freaking out.

Schultes admits to leaving Parker in the car, and it was hot outside. This is Arizona in July. EMTs took Parker out of the home, but Christopher Schultes' wife, Erica, she simply knew it was too late. Oh my god, my nose! No! No! No! This is terrible. Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god! No... They're going to Banner right now.

We're going to keep you updated with everything, okay? We just need to stand by with you right now, all right? Is that your wife out there? Yes. Okay. We're going to make sure she gets down there okay, all right? We have officers escorting her down there. If we need to, make sure she gets down there okay. All right, we have officers escorting her down there. If we need to, we will drive her down there,

and we'll make the same accommodations for you, all right? We'll keep you updated with everything they have. Christopher Schultes remained in the family's home, and officers stayed with him. Thank you. Now, as you saw, Christopher Schultes got a glass of water and stood there somewhat in shock. Then his wife called him and told him that she wanted him to come to the hospital. She wants me to try and get her right to the hospital. Hey, we will accommodate that for you all right um we're just gonna need to get a statement from you about what happened what's been going on obviously i know this isn't easy for you okay it's not easy for

anyone around right now we're gonna keep you updated with everything we hear do you want to sit down somewhere? Where would you be most comfortable? Sure, like... You want me to refill this for you? Can I sit? Is that alright? 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, 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.

This is just fucking life. Like... What time is it? Oh my God, this is just fucking life. We never do this anywhere, but on the home, right? Like, you're home, you're safe, your kids are home. Schultes then explained why he parked in the driveway and how long Parker was in the car. 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? 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. That statement from Christopher Schultes will become important

later, according to police and prosecutors, because they say Parker was in the car far longer than 30 to 45 minutes and that home security video proves that Parker was actually in the car for three hours. After Christopher Schultes gave a statement to the officer, a first responder told him about how they tried to help Parker. We weren't able to change anything for her. She was in brain that went wrong. We didn't have a pulse. So we continued the CPR in order to try to regain that.

I don't know what that's gonna look like in this car. As you know, she's very hot right now, and we're gonna do everything we can to mitigate that. So with that said, I have some folks here from Inbound. They work with the fire department, and they're gonna help you walk through some things. I understand that your wife went with her, correct? And we have some other folks and they're going to help you walk through some things. I understand that your wife went with her, correct? Okay.

And we have some other folks that are going to be pulled over there as well. Okay. So along with law enforcement and our community assistance people, they'll walk through some of the things, get you ready to go down to the hospital. I'm sorry, my baby's dead. I'm very sorry for this. This is not something we ever planned for. Chris, do you have any questions for me? No.

Oh, my God. After this, Schultes is reminded that his dogs are actually still outside. Remember, it's Arizona and it's July and it's hot and he needs to get ready to go to the hospital to meet his wife. Chris, your dogs, are they usually outside dogs? No, I just put them out there that you guys. Go ahead and get those inside. Schultes then prepares to get ready to go to the hospital, but it didn't go as he had planned. Just to let you know, I don't want to feel like we're intruding, but we're going to have to stand by with you for a while.

All right? Is there a reason why? So any death, we have to treat like a crime scene. I know this is extremely difficult for you. This is a normal process that we have to follow through with. I don't want you to be blindsided by any parents. But that's what's going to be going on for right now, okay? So I'm being treated like a murderer?

No. I just lost my baby. Not at all. I know that. And I know this isn't easy for you. That's why I'm trying to be straightforward and honest with you, okay? I don't want to keep any secrets. I don't want to hide anything for you. Someone's going to talk to you about what happened, though, all right?

We will keep you updated with everything. My whole family, like my whole family's gonna be ruined. We're gonna take a shower. So we can't let you do that right now. We have to stand by with you. Okay? As soon as you can, we will let you know. You can stay in the room if you want, but I'm gonna be on top.

I know this isn't easy for you, but the quicker we get this done and finished up, the sooner you can be with your wife. All right? I'm trying to be on top so I can go to the hospital and be with my wife. We're not gonna shower or anything right now. You need to stand by with us. I don't understand why. Okay. Just to explain, the officers are treating this like a crime scene. So they can't let Christopher Schulte shower

because at this point they really don't know what they're dealing with. They can't let him possibly wash away evidence of a crime and he is not happy that he cannot shower. Please. I don't understand why. I tried explaining that to you. We just need to stand by. 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? The officers stay with Schultes, but he wants to go to the hospital, but they don't let him leave. At one point in the video, you can hear one of the officers tell another officer about what Schultes told him about leaving Parker in the car. Schultes later tells the detective what happened. Oh, I got to get home because the girls are going to probably head back soon.

So we got home and the girls weren't home yet, but baby was sleeping in the car. And so I had taken some stuff inside and I came back out and the girls were there and just pulled up so they came inside and I checked on the baby she was still sleeping and then came back inside that's where I just kind of like I I don't know, thinking that she was playing with her sisters. I think that me coming home and thinking that, you know, the girls were going to be home. So I got to like come back in and out kind of thing. I don't know what like caused me to do it.

But no, I just, we're at home. You think when you're at home with your kids, you're safe, right? Now you heard Schultes say that he had checked on Parker, and the last time he had done so was around 2.30 that afternoon. His wife arrived home around 4. And then, had you done anything like this before, where you just let her sleep in the car or anything like that? No, that's normally, I mean, I have the girls with me usually, and the girls are always good you know, good about like, dad, get the baby, you know, like we'll all go inside together. But yeah, the only time it would ever happen would be like at home in the driveway kind of thing. Schultes told the detective he thought Parker was in the house with his other children,

but police say his other daughters told detectives that he became distracted by his food and playing a video game and that he had left the kids in the car 59 times before. Schultes was arrested and charged with child abuse and second degree murder three days later. So remember how we talked about the investigation and things that would transpire? Okay. And I told you I'm always going to tell you guys the truth. There's no secrets here, right? So based off of our investigation at this point, right we have determined that there's probable cause to go ahead and charge you for what happened So listen

This doesn't change This doesn't change what's going on. You haven't heard this before. This doesn't change what's going on. No. Okay. What happens at this point, it's simple. Okay. What happens at this point is you are going to be taken into custody. Alright?

No. And you will be booked. And then after you are booked, you have an initial appearance with the judge within the first 24 hours. Okay? After the first 24 hours, right, the judge will determine law and things like that as far as what happens next. At that point, the case goes to the courts. It'll be between you, it'll be between your attorneys, and it'll be between the county prosecutor. So, again, I can't change the consequences of what happened. All right. But what I, what I'm going to ask of you.

Okay. Did I just have you stand up for me, please? Come on, Chris. Let's, let's go out here. Can you grab me some shoes? No, come on. It's okay. It's okay. go out here. Can you grab him some shoes? The original complaint charging Schultes with second degree murder showed Schultes' wife sent a text message to him as Parker was being taken to the hospital. It said, I told you to stop leaving them in the car. How many times have I told you? And Schultes responded, babe, I'm sorry. His wife responded, we've lost her. She was perfect. Schultes then responded, babe, our family, how could I do this? I killed our baby. This can't be real. But the detective actually asked Schultes about whether he

regularly left the children in the car. This is what he said. And again, just for confirmation, this is not something that you've done before, right? You know, the kids have just been left in the vehicle while they're running or anything like that? We're at home. What would be the reason for that? The grand jury later met and indicted Christopher Schultes

on a first degree murder charge and child abuse. So they upgraded the charge. He has pleaded not guilty to both charges. And that's it for this episode of Crime Fix. I'm Ann Jeanette Levy. Thanks so much for being with me. I'll see you back here next time.