Dad who 'left daughter, 2, to die' in sweltering hot car gets court approval for Hawaii holiday

A dad facing charges for the death of his two year old has been given court approval to take a family to Hawaii before his trial date.

allege that Christopher Scholtes left Parker Scholtes. sleeping inside the family's car that was parked in the driveway of their home for several hours while he was "distracted" playing On that day, in July 2024 the temperature outside was reportedly 109 degrees.

At the time detectives investigated Parker's death they reportedly engaged with Scholtes' other two daughters, at the time aged 5 and 9, who shockingly revealed a pattern of their dad leaving them alone in the , reports .

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Pima County Superior Court Kimberly Ortiz granted defendant Christopher Scholtes' holiday request last month. This request from Scholtes came through his lawyer which stated he planned to travel to Maui, Hawaii, from May 1, 2025, to May 9, 2025. with his wife, and their two daughters.

Although the trip was sanctioned by the courts, stipulations required Scholtes to maintain regular contact with pre-trial services and avoid any unsupervised time with his other kids. This controversial permission from the judge was met with dismay. Pima County's top prosecutor Laura Conove criticised the court's leniency, as reported by

Laura Conove is reported to have said to the station: "The public record would show that the defendant and his counsel requested permission from the court to travel out-of-state. Our prosecutors strenuously objected. The court granted permission over our objection."

Exchanges of text messages between Scholtes and his spouse, working as an anesthesiologist, apparently expose his neglectful tendency to leave his children unattended in the vehicle. While Parker was en route to the medical facility, his wife sent a pointed message: "I told you to stop leaving them in the car, how many times have I told you," as reported by Tucson NBC affiliate KVOA.

During police questioning, Scholtes claimed he got home with Parker at around 2pm on the day in question and chose not to take her out of the car because he "wanted her to remain in the vehicle while she slept." However, according to the police, CCTV footage from the house allegedly shows him returning home at around 12:53pm but it was only when his wife came home at 4pm and asked about their daughter Parker that he rushed out to the car.

Parker's mother reportedly attempted CPR on her daughter until emergency services arrived, but they were unable to resuscitate the toddler. Scholtes reportedly told the police that he had left the Acura SUV running with the air conditioning on. However, he was aware that the car had a safety feature that would switch it off after 30 minutes, as reported by

The family's car was reportedly seized by the police as evidence in the case, along with Scholtes' console, which allegedly distracted him from checking on his daughter.

Despite allegedly knowing that Scholtes often left their children alone in the area, his wife appeared in court shortly after Parker's death and requested the judge to allow him to return home to aid in the healing process. "This was a big mistake and I think that this doesn't represent him," she mentioned, "And I just want that the girls to see their father so that I don't have to tell them tonight that they're going to endure another loss."

His trial is set for October 27, 2025.