Daughter's Death in Hot Vehicle Reveals Father's Troubled History | Christopher Scholtes Analysis

Summary

In this video, Dr. Grande explores the tragic case of Christopher Schultz, who left his 2-year-old daughter in a hot car, resulting in her death. The analysis covers Christopher's background, the timeline of events, and the evidence against him. It discusses the charges of first-degree murder and child abuse, and speculates on his guilt and potential legal outcomes, highlighting the dangers of repeated reckless behavior.

Takeaways

• 👨‍⚕️ Christopher Schultz, born in 1987, studied biochemistry but his occupation was unclear.
• 🚗 In 2009, he was charged with DUI, having no other criminal history.
• 💍 Christopher married a physician named Erica, and they had three daughters.
• 🏡 The family lived in a 2300 sq ft house in Morana, Arizona.
• 🚔 On July 9, 2024, Christopher called 911 reporting his 2-year-old daughter unresponsive after leaving her in a vehicle.
• 🌡️ Parker's body temperature reached 108.9°F, and her cause of death was environmental heat exposure.
• 🍺 Christopher had a history of leaving his children in vehicles and had issues with alcohol.
• 📱 Text messages between Christopher and Erica revealed his unsafe behavior and her concerns.
• 🚔 Christopher was arrested and charged with second-degree murder, later upgraded to first-degree murder.
• 🏢 The case suggests that repeated endangerment should be met with action, not complacency.

Q & A

What was Christopher Schultz's educational background?

Christopher Schultz studied biochemistry at Arizona State University.

What criminal charges did Christopher Schultz face prior to the incident involving his daughter?

Christopher Schultz was charged with driving under the influence around 2009, with no other criminal history mentioned.

When and how did Christopher Schultz's daughter Parker die?

Parker died on July 9, 2024, due to environmental heat exposure after being left unresponsive in a vehicle.

What was the timeline of events leading up to Parker's death according to the script?

Christopher Schultz had been driving around with Parker, arrived home, and left her in the vehicle while he went inside, believing the car would turn off after about 30 minutes. His wife arrived home later, and it was only then that they discovered Parker unresponsive in the vehicle.

What was Christopher Schultz's behavior like on the day of Parker's death as described in the script?

Christopher Schultz was described as having stopped at a convenience store, drank beer, and left without paying. He also lied about his arrival time at home to the police.

What evidence was found by the police that suggested Christopher Schultz had a history of leaving his children in the vehicle?

The police found text messages between Christopher and his wife, Erica, where she expressed concern about him leaving their children in the car, and his daughters reported that he had left them in the vehicle alone about 59 times in the past.

What was the initial charge against Christopher Schultz after Parker's death?

Initially, Christopher Schultz was charged with second-degree murder and child abuse.

How did the charge against Christopher Schultz change after the grand jury indictment?

The charge against Christopher Schultz was upgraded from second-degree murder to first-degree murder after a Pima County grand jury indicted him.

What was Erica's stance on the incident involving her daughter and husband as presented in the script?

Erica believed that Parker's death was a big mistake made by Christopher and did not represent his character. She asked the judge to allow him to come home so they could grieve together as a family.

What is the legal definition of first-degree murder in Arizona as it pertains to this case?

In Arizona, a person can be found guilty of first-degree murder if, in the course of committing child abuse, they cause the death of a person. Christopher's alleged behavior could fit this definition.

What was the opinion of the speaker regarding Christopher Schultz's guilt?

The speaker believed that Christopher Schultz was guilty of first-degree murder beyond a reasonable doubt and suggested that his best hope would be to work out a plea bargain.

Outlines

00:00

🔍 Introduction and Background

Dr. Grande introduces a case analysis video on Christopher Schultz, emphasizing that no diagnosis is being made. He outlines his approach to the case, which includes examining the background, timeline, and offering an analysis. Christopher Schultz was born in 1987, studied biochemistry, and had a DUI charge in 2009. He married a physician, Erica, and they had three daughters. The timeline of the crime begins on July 9, 2024, when Christopher called 911 to report his 2-year-old daughter, Parker, unresponsive after being left in a vehicle. Despite attempts at CPR, Parker was pronounced dead due to heat exposure. The police investigation revealed that Christopher had left the vehicle running with air conditioning on, but it turned off after 20 minutes. He had also stopped at a convenience store, drank beer, and left without paying. Surveillance video showed Christopher arriving home earlier than he claimed.

05:00

📚 Timeline and Police Investigation

The script details the timeline leading up to Parker's death, including Christopher's activities before he left Parker in the vehicle. It also covers the police investigation, which found that Christopher had a history of leaving his children in vehicles and had been warned by his wife, Erica, about this behavior. Erica's text messages to Christopher indicated her concern for their children's safety. The police discovered that Christopher lied about the time he arrived home and had a history of irresponsible behavior, including driving under the influence with his children in the car.

10:02

🏛️ Legal Proceedings and Analysis

Christopher was arrested and charged with second-degree murder and child abuse. His wife, Erica, pleaded for his release so they could grieve together as a family. The charges were later upgraded to first-degree murder. Dr. Grande analyzes the case, discussing the evidence for and against Christopher's guilt. He considers whether the charge of first-degree murder is reasonable and concludes that Christopher is likely guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Dr. Grande theorizes that Christopher's self-centered and impulsive behavior led to the tragedy and emphasizes the importance of taking action when someone repeatedly endangers others.

Keywords

💡Diagnosing

Diagnosing refers to identifying a disease or condition through examination and analysis. In the context of the video, the speaker clarifies that they are not diagnosing anyone but are speculating on the possible psychological or behavioral factors that could have contributed to the case of Christopher Schultz. This distinction is important as it sets the tone for the analysis, which is theoretical and not a professional medical assessment.

💡Background

Background in this context refers to the personal history and circumstances of an individual, which can provide context for understanding their actions. The video discusses Christopher Schultz's background, including his education, family life, and past legal issues, to help the audience understand the environment in which the tragic event occurred.

💡Timeline

A timeline is a sequence of events in chronological order. The video uses the timeline of the crime to detail the sequence of events leading up to the tragic death of Christopher's daughter, Parker. This helps the audience follow the progression of the case and understand the critical moments that led to the outcome.

💡Environmental Heat Exposure

Environmental heat exposure refers to the harmful effects of being in a hot environment for an extended period. In the video, Parker's cause of death is attributed to environmental heat exposure, highlighting the dangers of leaving children in hot vehicles, which is a central theme of the case analysis.

💡First Responders

First responders are emergency services personnel who are usually the first to arrive at the scene of an accident or emergency. The video mentions first responders arriving at the scene after Christopher called 911, emphasizing the immediate response to the emergency but also the tragic outcome that could not be reversed.

💡Self-centered

Self-centeredness is a personality trait where an individual is excessively focused on their own needs and desires, often at the expense of others. The video speculates that Christopher's self-centered behavior could have contributed to his decision-making on the day of the incident, illustrating how personal traits can have significant consequences.

💡Mistreatment

Mistreatment refers to the act of treating someone badly or unfairly. In the context of the video, mistreatment is linked to Christopher's alleged actions of leaving his daughter in the vehicle, which led to her death. This term is crucial as it frames the legal and moral implications of his actions.

💡First-degree Murder

First-degree murder is a classification of homicide that involves premeditation and intent. The video discusses whether the charge of first-degree murder is appropriate for Christopher, based on his actions and the legal definition. This term is central to understanding the legal consequences he faces and the severity of the crime.

💡Plea Bargain

A plea bargain is an agreement in a criminal case where the defendant pleads guilty to a lesser charge to avoid a trial. The video suggests that a plea bargain might be Christopher's best option, indicating the potential legal strategy and the gravity of the charges he faces.

💡Grieving Process

The grieving process refers to the emotional suffering one goes through when dealing with loss. In the video, Christopher's wife, Erica, mentions the need for the family to go through the grieving process together, highlighting the personal and emotional impact of the tragedy beyond the legal aspects.

💡Irresponsible

Irresponsible behavior is when someone fails to act in a manner that is reliable, safe, or expected. The video describes Christopher as irresponsible, particularly in his actions leading to the death of his daughter, emphasizing the personal accountability and the consequences of such behavior.

Highlights

Christopher Schultz was born in May 1987 and lived in Morana, Arizona.

He studied biochemistry at Arizona State University but his occupation was unclear.

In 2009, Christopher was charged with driving under the influence.

Christopher married a physician named Erica and they had three daughters.

On July 9, 2024, Christopher called 911 reporting his 2-year-old daughter Parker was unresponsive.

Parker was left in a vehicle and died from environmental heat exposure.

Christopher claimed he left the vehicle running with air conditioning for Parker.

Surveillance video shows Christopher's activities before the 911 call, including drinking beer.

Christopher lied to the police about the time he arrived home.

Erica asked Christopher where Parker was, and he initially forgot she was in the SUV.

Text messages between Christopher and Erica suggest a history of leaving children in vehicles.

Christopher's 16-year-old daughter from a previous relationship may testify against him.

Christopher was charged with second-degree murder and child abuse, later upgraded to first-degree murder.

Erica requested Christopher be released to home for the grieving process.

The police tested the SUV and found it would turn off after 20 minutes, not 30 as Christopher claimed.

Christopher's daughters described him as a good dad who had been distracted.

The analysis suggests Christopher is guilty of first-degree murder based on a pattern of irresponsible behavior.

The case illustrates the danger of repeated endangerment and the need for intervention.

Transcripts

oh this is Dr Grande today's question is

can I analyze the case of Christopher

schultes just a reminder I'm not

diagnosing anybody in this video only

speculating about what could be

happening in a situation like this if

you enjoyed this video please like it

subscribe to my channel and consider

supporting me on patreon I will put the

link to patreon in the description for

this video first I'll look at the

background of this case move to the

timeline of the crime then offer my

analysis Christopher Ryan Schultz was

born in May 1987 and lived in Morana

Arizona this is 21 Mi Northwest of

Tucson he studied biochemistry at

Arizona State University but it is not

clear what he did for a living sometime

around 2009 Christopher was charged with

driving Under the Influence he had no

other criminal history in October 2012

Christopher started dating a physician

named Erica the couple married and went

on to have three daughters their

youngest daughter was Bor born in

October 2021 her name was Parker the

family lived in a 2300 ft house at 5160

West Payton's court now moving to the

timeline of the crime on July 9 2024

37-year-old Christopher schultes called

911 at 4:16 p.m. and reported that his

2-year-old daughter Parker was

unresponsive he had left Parker in his

vehicle which was parked in his driveway

first responders arrived and transported

Parker to a hospital where she was

pronounced dead at 4:58 p.m. her body

temperature had reached

108.9 de Parker's cause of death was

environmental heat exposure the police

spoke to Christopher here is the story

that he supplied to them he and Parker

had been driving around in his blue 2023

Acura MDX at 2:30 p.m. Christopher

arrived home and parked in the driveway

Park was asleep in her car seat which

was in the back seat on the driver's

side not wanting to wake her up

Christopher left his daughter in the

vehicle and entered the house when he

left the SUV was running with the air

conditioning activated from his prior

experience with the vehicle he believed

the engine would turn off after about 30

minutes at about 400 p.m. Christopher's

wife Erica arrived at the house when she

asked where Parker was Christopher began

to check the rooms of the house house he

then remembered that he had left Parker

in the SUV when Christopher went to the

vehicle he noticed it was not running

and his daughter was still in her car

seat she was unresponsive this is when

he called 911 Erica performed CPR until

First Responders arrived as all this was

happening Christopher's 9-year-old

daughter and his 5-year-old daughter

were in the house here is what the

police found as they continued with

their investigation on July 9th the day

Parker died Christopher had been in a

local grocery store alone at 12:06 p.m.

on his way back home from the grocery

store he stopped at a quick trip

convenience store this was about 4 hours

before the 911 call he entered the store

alone selected three cans of beer from

the beer core and walked into the

restroom Christopher exited the bathroom

about 2 minutes later with at least one

beer in his hand at this point he exited

the store without making any attempt to

pay for the beer at 12:10 p.m. he drove

away surveillance video from

Christopher's neighborhood showed that

his 9-year-old daughter and his

5-year-old daughter arrived at his house

at 12:52 p.m. Christopher's SUV pulled

into the driveway at 12:53 p.m. just 1

minute later media reports did not

clarify what exactly happened there did

Christopher drop his daughter's off and

then pull into the driveway or did

someone else bring them home there's no

way to know based on the available

information although I would guess that

he just dropped them off Christopher

could be seen walking alone from his

vehicle to the front door of his house

based on the surveillance video

Christopher lied about his arrival time

he said he arrived at about 2:30 p.m. in

reality he had arrived home an hour and

37 minutes earlier Erica arrived home at

4:08 p.m. the 911 call was placed 8

minutes later Christopher's vehicle was

parked in direct sunlight Parker's car

seat was on the driver's side which was

facing west the police tested the SUV to

see how long it would take to turn off

when idling the vehicle deactivated

after 20 minutes Christopher had told

the police that it took around 30

minutes to turn off he had left Parker

in the vehicle for over 3 hours the

police interviewed Christopher's

daughters the children said that their

father was a good dad and it was just an

accident he had been distracted by

playing video games on his PlayStation

and by putting food away one of his

daughters said that Christopher had left

them in the vehicle alone about 59 times

in the past Christopher had a

16-year-old daughter from a previous

relationship she had lived with him and

Erica for about 4 years she told the

media that Christopher had a history of

leaving her in vehicles she was younger

than seven the first time he did it

Christopher's daughter intends on

testifying against him in court if the

case progresses to that point on July

12th 2024 3 days after Parker's death

Christopher was arrested and charged

with second deegree murder and child

abuse at a hearing to determine bail for

Christopher Erica told the judge quote

I'm just asking if you can allow him to

come home to us so that we can all start

the grieving process so he can bury our

daughter with us this coming week and

that we can go through this whole

process together as as a family this was

a big mistake and this doesn't represent

him I just want the girls to see their

father that I don't have to tell them

tonight that they're going to have to

endure another loss unquote the judge

determined that Christopher was not a

danger to the community and released him

on August 1 2024 Christopher had his

second degree murder charge supersized

to first-degree murder after a puma

County grand jury indicted him the other

charge related to mistreating his

daughter remain the same if convicted

Christopher could face the death penalty

or life in prison although I'd be very

surprised if the state pursued the death

penalty in this case now moving to my

analysis B on Erica's statement to the

judge at a bail hearing she believes

that Parker's death was a big mistake

made by Christopher it is reasonable to

believe that Christopher feels the same

way I imagine his defense will involve

working toward a manolder conviction

as opposed to a murder conviction was

the indictment for first-degree murder

reasonable based on how the criminal

justice system typically deals with

these types of offenders can this charge

be supported based on the evidence or is

the state

overreaching in the state of Arizona a

person can be found guilty of

first-degree murder if in the course of

committing child abuse they caused the

death of a person technically

Christopher could be convicted of

first-degree murder based on his alleged

Behavior this brings me to the question

is Christopher guilty a first-degree

murder let's take a look at the evidence

both for and against the idea that he is

guilty starting with the inculpatory

factors on the day of Parker's death

Christopher appeared to leave her in his

SUV when he was at a grocery store and

at a convenience store it appears as

though he drank beer at the convenience

store and left without paying after

Christopher arrived home he knew that

Parker was in his vehicle he noticed

that she was sleeping it's not like he

failed to remember she was there he

decided to leave her in the SUV even

though the high temperature that day was

109° furthermore Christopher realized

that his vehicle would turn off

automatically there is no question that

Christopher's Behavior caused Parker's

death leaving her in the vehicle

represented mistreatment and led to her

death after Erica arrived home she asked

Christopher where Parker was he

initially checked rooms in the house

even when he was reminded about Parker

Christopher did not think of looking in

the SUV first when questioned by the

police he lied about how long he had

been at home saying he arrived an hour

and 37 minutes after his actual arrival

time the police found a text message

exchange between Erica and Christopher

which occurred right after Parker's

death Erica texted I told you to stop

leaving them in the car how many times

have I told you Christopher responded

babe I'm sorry Erica wrote we've lost

her she was perfect Christopher wrote

babe our family how could I do this I

killed our baby this can't be real other

text messages indicated that Christopher

had a history of unsafe Behavior

regarding his daughters for example on

March 11 2024 Erica wrote you haven't

shown you can stop putting the girls in

danger or treating me badly even

yesterday you drove home drunk with two

minors you drink to excess every time I

have been asking for 3 years for you to

cut back but it's actually gotten

worse 10 days later Erica wrote why were

you going 138 with our baby in the car

with alcohol in your system unquote

Christopher responded to this message

writing quot you hate me she was

sleeping it's

fine statements made by er's daughters

indicated that he had a long history of

leaving them in his vehicle unattended

moving to the exculpatory factors

Christopher intended to check on Parker

every few minutes to make sure that she

was okay in the vehicle perhaps he

became distracted and failed to remember

that's pretty much it for exculpatory

factors when considering the evidence in

this case do I believe Christopher is

guilty of first-degree murder yes in my

opinion he is guilty Beyond A Reasonable

Doubt his best hope would be to work out

some type of plea bargain to spend

decades in prison while retaining a

chance of being released someday what do

I think happened in this case this is

just a theory my opinion Christopher was

self- centered impulsive irresponsible

immature Reckless and appeared to have

difficulty regulating his intake of

alcohol he lived his life as if he was

invincible nothing bad could ever happen

to him he could just do whatever he

wanted and things would work out for the

best Christopher had a long history of

leaving his daughters in his vehicle

which apparently His Wife Er knew about

she had warned him multiple times to

stop but Christopher did not listen on

the day of the alleged murder

Christopher was behaving irresponsibly

and struggling with his alcohol use he

couldn't even make a home from the

grocery store without stopping at a

convenience store and drinking beer

after arriving home he left his daughter

Parker in the SUV consistent with his

philosophy that nothing bad could ever

happen the consequences were not even

considered he was so confident that

everything would be fine he didn't even

remember Parker's location when Erica

asked about her Christopher is a

dangerous individual who should be in

prison he should have been there a long

time ago now moving to my final thoughts

Erica suggested that her husband

Christopher made a big mistake which did

not represent him

she is incorrect this tragic outcome was

predictable based on Christopher's

Behavior it does represent him pretty

well in fact the lesson learned in this

case is that when somebody repeatedly

endangers others action must be taken

it's dangerous to fall into the same

pattern as the offender of believing

that everything will magically work out

for the best people who are unable or

unwilling to regulate their intake of

alcohol try to convince family members

that they don't have a problem

in doing so they also try to convince

the family members that no one has a

problem everybody will be safe even if

the drinking continues this case

illustrates how nothing could be further

from the truth those are my thoughts on

the case of Christopher Schultz please

put any opinions and thoughts in the

comment section they consistently

generate an interesting dialogue as

always I hope you found my analysis of

this topic to be informative thanks for

watching