Father charged with murder after 2-year-old was left in car for 3 hours during 109-degree heat wave, police say

An Arizona father has been arrested and charged with murder for allegedly leaving his 2-year-old daughter in the car outside the family home for three hours as temperatures reached 109 degrees, authorities said.

Christopher Scholtes, 37, was taken into custody Friday and booked into the Pima County Adult Detention Center on charges of second-degree murder and child abuse, the Marana Police Department said in a news release.

Scholtes told police that when he arrived home Tuesday afternoon, his daughter was asleep in her car seat and he didn’t want to wake her, according to the statement. He reportedly said he left her in the car seat while the vehicle was running in the driveway and the air conditioning was on.

He then entered the house, police said.

The girl’s mother returned home shortly afterward, police said, and found the girl in the vehicle. The car was not running and the air conditioning was off, authorities said.

Despite life-saving measures taken by the mother and law enforcement, the girl was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Police obtained video from nearby homes and determined that Scholtes left her daughter in the car for about three hours, the statement said.

A historic heat wave is hitting parts of the country, with temperatures reaching as high as 109 degrees on Tuesday.

According to a sworn affidavit, Scholtes told authorities it was not unusual for him and his wife, a doctor, to leave their daughter in the running car while it was parked in the garage, according to NBC affiliate KVOA in Tucson. He said he parked in the driveway because there was exercise equipment in the garage.

He also said he usually received alerts if his car got too hot or shut down, but he did not receive any on the day of the incident, according to the affidavit.

Police said the incident was a “stark reminder of the dangers of leaving children unattended in vehicles.”

“Temperatures inside a vehicle can rise rapidly, even in relatively mild weather, leading to potentially fatal consequences within minutes,” police said. “We urge all parents and caregivers to remain vigilant and take all necessary precautions to keep their children safe.”

It is unclear whether Scholtes has retained a lawyer.