A father who abandoned his two-year-old daughter to die in a car in 37°C temperatures while he was inside their house – ‘watching porn’ – has been found dead.
Christopher Scholtes faced up to 30 years behind bars, with no chance of parole, but failed to appear at his sentencing hearing on Wednesday.
On the same day, police found him dead inside a home in Phoenix, Arizona, as reported by ABC15.
It is understood that authorities are treating the 38-year-old’s death as a possible suicide.
Pima county attorney Laura Conover said in a video statement: ‘Instead of coming in to take accountability for what has occurred here, we have been informed and we have confirmed that the father took his own life last night.
‘This is obviously extraordinarily complicated.
‘We extend our deepest sympathies and sorrow to all the loved ones who have suffered the loss of this beautiful baby girl and now another loss to his family.’
Scholtes was accused of leaving his daughter, Parker, in a hot car outside his family’s home last year for three hours.
He had accepted a plea deal after initially rejecting it and pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.
The court first heard how he had left his youngest child to nap, and forgot about her later as he played video games.
This was despite previous reminders from his wife, Erika, to stop leaving their children in the car.
It was her who found Parker her hours later, with the A/C automatically turned off, and outside temperatures in the triple digits.
His alleged X-rated activities were also revealed to the court last month, 15 months after the tragedy.
Erika stood by her husband after the death and told a judge that he was a ‘pillar of the community’ who had made a ‘big mistake.’
She spoke at a hearing just days after the death and argued for his release.
‘I’m just asking if you can allow him to come home to us so that we can all start the grieving process so he can bury our daughter with us … and that we can go through this whole process together as a family,’ she told the judge.
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