An Arizona man who pleaded guilty to killing his 2-year-old daughter by leaving her in a hot car for hours took his own life the day he was scheduled to be sentenced, officials said Wednesday.
According to NBC News, Christopher Scholtes, 38, was found dead at his home, according to Pima County Attorney Laura Conover.
“This little girl’s voice was nearly silenced because justice was not served appropriately this morning,” Conover said. “But it has not and will not be silenced due to the hard work of the people who work here at the Pima County Attorney’s Office.”
Records from the Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed Scholtes’ death. He is survived by his wife and two other children.
Authorities said the 2-year-old girl died on July 9 after being left in a car outside the family’s home for about three hours as temperatures reached 109 degrees.
Scholtes told police he had left the child in her car seat with the engine and air conditioning running because she was asleep, but investigators later found the air conditioner was off. Prosecutors said he knew the vehicle automatically shut off after 30 minutes.
When his wife, a doctor, came home from work, she asked about their daughter — and Scholtes then discovered the child had died.
He was arrested on July 12 and pleaded guilty in October to second-degree murder and child abuse. He faced up to 30 years in prison.
Court documents revealed that Scholtes had been distracted by video games on the day of his daughter’s death and “regularly” left his children alone in the car.
His wife texted him, “I told you to stop leaving them in the car, How many times have I told you,” as their daughter was being rushed to the hospital.
“Babe I’m sorry!” Scholtes replied.
In a later message, he wrote, “How could I do this. I killed our baby, this can’t be real.”
