An Arizona man who has been accused of killing his 2-year-old daughter by leaving her in a hot car for three hours is facing a charge of first-degree murder.
Christopher Scholtes’ trial begins later this month. According to People, certain details about the incident will not be revealed to the jury, including the fact that the 38-year-old allegedly searched for porn on his PlayStation while his youngest child remained in the car.
According to court documents, on July 9, 2024, Scholtes is said to have left his daughter in the car after running errands and still forgot about her while he sat at home and played video games.
It was at that time that he purportedly searched for porn—information that prosecutors were hoping to share with the jury during the trial.
Judge Kimberly Ortiz denied prosecutors’ motion for admissibility, writing in her order that, "the State is precluded from any eliciting testimony in its case in chief regarding the Defendant looking for pornography on the PlayStation before [his daughter's] body is discovered."
Witnesses are also "precluded from mentioning Defendant’s two-minute search for pornography on the Playstation on July 9, 2024."
In addition to first-degree murder, Scholtes is also being tried for intentional child abuse in connection with the fatal incident. The father of three refused a plea deal that would have required him to enter a guilty plea for second-degree murder. He also entered a not guilty plea to the aforementioned charges.
Scholtes previously confessed to police that he left his daughter in the car after his wife discovered the 2-year-old in her car seat. By that point, she had allegedly been in the vehicle for over three hours, with the car's temperature reaching 109 degrees.
At the time, Scholtes told police that he had left her in the car with the air conditioning running since she was asleep. He said after arriving at home and putting away groceries, he forgot about her.
According to the complaint, Scholtes said he knew that the car engine shuts off after 30 minutes, meaning there was no air conditioning.
Scholtes’ two other daughters, who were 6 years old and 9 years old at the time of the incident, allegedly told investigators that their father had left them alone in the car at other times.
His trial is slated to start on Oct. 27.