DEVASTATING police bodycam video shows first responders desperately trying to save a toddler after her dad left her in a scorching hot car as he played on the PlayStation.
Christopher Scholtes cried "Please baby, please" while first responders tried to resuscitate his two-year-old daughter, Parker.
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Marana Police Department in Arizona arrested Scholtes, 37, and charged him with second-degree murder and child abuse after he allegedly left the toddler alone for several hours to play on his PlayStation.
He was booked into the Pima County Adult Detention Center on July 12, three days after Parker was pronounced dead at Banner University Medical Center.
Harrowing police video footage obtained by Inside Edition last Friday shows first responders trying to save Parker inside the house.
In the bodycam, the father - wearing a white T-shirt and dark shorts - can be seen pacing inside his home, while clutching his bowed head.
"Please baby, please," he can be heard pleading while first responders worked on his child in a nearby room.
Scholtes is also shown speaking on his cell phone in the kitchen.
"I can't believe this," he can be heard saying in the call captured on the bodycam.
So, I'm treated like a murderer?
Christopher Scholtes, Marana Police Dept bodycamInside Edition
Parker's mom, Erika, who is a doctor, had arrived home earlier to find the toddler unresponsive inside the 109F car - with the engine turned off, and no air-conditioner running.
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In the police department's July 9 video footage, officers asked the father how long Parker had been inside the car.
"I want to say it was no more than 30, 45 minutes, and I don't think the air was off that entire time," he responded, per the bodycam.
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"I think there was a time in between - I had checked on her last, it was still running, she was still sleeping.
"And then when I went back out, the car was off."
The first responders then warned him about his toddler's condition.
"She's very hot right now, and we're going to do everything we can," an officer can be heard saying in the video.
Scholtes was then filmed burying his head in his hands while sitting at a table.
"Oh my God," he said.
"So, I'm treated like a murderer?" he replied after an officer told him that police had to treat the home as a possible crime scene.
"No," the cop responded.
ARRESTED
Three days after Parker's death, police returned to the Scholtes's house to arrest the dad.
Bodycam footage from July 12 shows him falling to his knees upon being told he was being taken into custody.
"No," he exclaimed.
ASLEEP IN CAR SEAT
Scholtes had told officers at the scene that when he had arrived home, the girl was still asleep in her car seat, according to the police arrest report on July 12.
He allegedly told cops he had left the vehicle on and running in the driveway, with the air-con on and the child inside.
MOTHER'S PLEA AFTER HOT CAR DEATH
Parker Scholtes from Marana, Arizona, about 20 miles northwest of Tucson, died on July 9 after being left in a car that reached 109 degrees.
The toddler's mom, Erika, a doctor who found the two-year-old in the car and tried to save her, spoke in court in defense of her husband, Christopher.
After he was arrested and charged on July 12, Christopher made an initial appearance in court on July 15.
Parker's mother urged the court to reconsider holding her husband until his preliminary hearing in early August as she described her child's death as "a big mistake."
"I'm just asking if you can allow him to come home to us so we can all start the grieving process," she told the judge.
"So that he can bury our daughter with us this upcoming week, and [so] that we can go through this poor process together as a family.
"This was a big mistake and I think that it doesn't represent him.
"I just want the girls to see their father so that I don't have to tell them tonight that they're going to endure another loss."
The defense highlighted that the father-of-two does not have a criminal history aside from a decades-old DUI charge.
The father also told detectives he did not want to wake his daughter up, so her left her sleeping in the vehicle, while he went inside the family home.
"The mother was not home, but shortly after she arrived, the child was discovered in the vehicle, which was no longer running, and the air-conditioning was off," according to police.
The car's air conditioning system is set to automatically switch off after a period of disuse, which Scholtes admitted he knew, cops alleged.
Erika performed CPR on her daughter until the police and the Northwest Fire District arrived at the scene, where they attempted life-saving measures.
"During the investigation, detectives obtained video surveillance from nearby residences and determined that the child had been in the vehicle for approximately three hours," according to the cops.
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The force alleged that he became "distracted" while playing his PlayStation and "putting his food away," according to court filings.
During his court appearance last Thursday, Scholtes pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder charges.
"First-degree murder seems like a very, very heavy charge," said Louis Fidel, Tucson attorney, following the dad's court appearance, and subsequent release.
"It's a tragedy of the utmost proportions."
His wife had asked the judge during an initial court appearance on July 15 to release him to return home to his family so they could “start the grieving process” together.
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“This... big mistake doesn’t represent him,” she added.
The U.S. Sun has contacted the police department for further updates.
