Arizona girl, 2, dies after father leaves her in hot car to play video games

A man in the US state of Arizona is facing murder and child endangerment charges after allegedly leaving his 2-year-old daughter in a sweltering car for over three hours while playing video games.

Christopher Scholtes, 37, told police he arrived home with his daughter Parker asleep in the car and left her inside the running vehicle to avoid waking her. However, upon his wife's return home, the girl was found unresponsive in the car, with the air conditioning turned off. The child was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Newly released court documents allege Scholtes “got distracted playing his game and putting his food away” playing video games before his wife came home and discovered their daughter.

Local media reports detailed text messages between the couple, where Erika Scholtes, an anaesthesiologist, reportedly wrote, "I told you to stop leaving them in the car. How many times have I told you?"

Scholtes allegedly responded with, "Babe, I'm sorry... Babe, our family. How could I do this? I killed our baby, this can't be real."

According to Scholtes' statement, he arrived home around 2:30 PM and parked outside due to a full garage. He claimed he forgot his daughter in the car until his wife's arrival at 4 PM.

However, police reviewed surveillance footage placing his arrival closer to 12:30 PM, leaving Parker in the car under extreme heat exceeding 42 degrees Celsius for over three hours.

The couple's other children reportedly told police their father had a habit of leaving all three siblings unattended in the car.

Scholtes admitted to police that he left the car's air conditioning on, but acknowledged it would automatically shut off after 30 minutes.

Despite his wife's plea in court for clemency, calling the incident "a big mistake," Scholtes was charged with murder and child endangerment. The judge set bail at $25,000, lower than the $1 million requested by prosecutors.