An Arizona father who left his young daughter to die in a scorching hot car while playing video games is seen defending himself when confronted by officers, saying, “Am I being treated like a murderer?” according to newly released body camera footage.
Christopher Scholz, 37, also broke down in tears when police responded to his home on July 9 to find his 2-year-old daughter, Parker, struggling for life in the family’s car. Scholz claims he left the air conditioner on for just 30 minutes because he didn’t want to wake his daughter.
“So they’re treating me like a murderer?” he says, raising his voice in the body camera footage after police told him his home might be a crime scene. Get it from Inside Edition.
When police first arrived at the home and tried to help Parker, Skortes was seen pacing around the house with his head in his hands and appearing to be in distress, the video shows.
“Please, baby,” he begs once, and then, huskily, as he talks on the phone, “I can’t believe it.”
“She’s very agitated right now and we’re going to do everything we can,” police told the father, who hid his face in his hands.
Parker was in critical condition when his mother, an anesthesiologist, returned home and discovered him in his unair-conditioned car around 4 p.m.
In the video, Scholz told police he left Parker outside for “no more than 30 to 45 minutes” and kept an eye on her the whole time, but court documents later revealed he left her in the car for more than three hours while he was there and that he was in the habit of leaving his three daughters in cars.
“I told you not to leave him in the car,” his wife, Erice Scholtes, texted him after the tragedy. “How many times have I told you?”
The other two children also told police that their father would regularly leave them in the car, according to the criminal complaint, which also states that their father “distracted himself by playing games and putting away food” while their daughter lay dying outside.
A 16-year-old daughter from a previous marriage He told KVOA-TV Scholz would often leave her in his car for hours without food, so much so that Child Protective Services had to remove her from him, and she’s surprised the tragedy didn’t happen sooner.
Skortes pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder charges Thursday and remains free.
His wife had previously asked the judge to release him and return him to his family so they can “begin the grieving process” together.
“This is a huge mistake and does not represent him,” she said.
