An Arizona dad accused of killing his 2-year-old daughter, whom he is accused of leaving in a sweltering car, has been granted permission to go on vacation to Hawaii.
Christopher Scholtes was authorized to go to Maui with his wife and two daughters from May 2-9.
During the trip, Scholtes was instructed to call Pretrial Services when leaving Arizona, outside of the state, and when returning. He was also instructed to have no contact with children without supervision.
Scholtes faces felony first-degree murder and child abuse charges for the July 2024 death of his 2-year-old daughter, who died from heat exposure inside a hot vehicle.
The car had been parked in the sun with the child’s car seat on the driver’s side of the car, a west-facing window. Scholtes was aware he left his 2-year-old daughter in the car.
Police added Scholtes said he took his daughter on some errands and then he went home. She was sleeping in her car seat, and he left her in the car while he went inside.
He said he left the car idling with the air conditioning on. When he returned outside, the car was turned off and his daughter was unconscious. He admitted to having knowledge about the automatic shut-off of the car, while video and documents indicated that he was in his house playing video games for as long as three hours.
Scholtes declined the opportunity for a 10 to 25-year sentence when he turned down second-degree murder in order to face a potential life sentence in trial in October.