Featured Image Credit: YouTube/News 4 Tucson KVOA-TV
Topics: US News
Britt Jones
A two-year-old girl has died following a ‘mistake’ her father made after she was found unresponsive in a car on a 109F (42C) day.
According to reports, it’s unclear exactly the amount of time she was left in the car alone, but it was a least 30 minutes that the child had been locked inside of the sweltering vehicle.
Her father, Chris Scholtes, explained to police that he had left her in the car with it still on and the air conditioning running as he ran into the home, but when he returned at 4pm, his daughter was unresponsive, and the AC had turned off.
Immediately calling 911, the child was then rushed to Banner University Medical Center Tucson, which is the hospital where her mother, Erika Scholtes, worked as an anaesthesiologist.
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Police confirmed that 'resuscitation efforts were being done, and the child was immediately transported to the hospital. Unfortunately, the child was pronounced deceased at the hospital.’
The little girl, called Parker, was born in 2021 and was nearing her third birthday in October when she died on Tuesday July 9.
The Marana Police Captain, Tim Brunenkant, confirmed to reporters that Parker’s death was being investigated and determined whether it was an accident or not.
He said: “We don't know the circumstances, we are trying to find that out. When those temperatures arise especially this week when it's 110. It's just tragic,.
“We are doing the interviews, and we are trying to determine if this was a mistake, 'Is it an accident? Is that possible?' We'll have to determine that.”
Brunenkant confirmed that it wasn’t clear how long she had been in the car or how long the AC had been turned off, but that the force did know that ‘it was a hot car. The child was unresponsive, it was very hot, and it's very tragic.’
He said: “He left the child in the car. The car was running, the AC was operational. We are trying to determine how long he was in the house, at what time the car may have shut off or the AC stopped working.”
The Captain went on to stress the importance of not leaving children alone in the car, citing that at least one child will die each summer due to being locked inside during the heat.
Another instance where a father forgot his daughter in the blistering heat, saw a three-year-old girl die in Arizona.
According to reports, her dad forgot that she was strapped into her carseat.
Charlotte Jones was left inside the vehicle on the driveway of her family home in for around three hours, according to her mother Angela, as temperatures soared above 98F (36C).
Her father, Scott, had dropped the couple's two other daughters off at school on the morning before heading back home to start work from his own office - but forgot his little girl was in the backseat.
The couple had decided to keep Charlotte out of pre-school that week, but her father only realised his fatal mistake after his wife Angela rang him to check on them both hours later.
UNILAD reached out to the Marana Police for comment.