Dad Pleads Guilty After Baby Daughter's Hot Car Death While He Watched Porn | Crime Alert 5PM 10.27.25

An Arizona father admits guilt in his daughter’s hot car death while he was inside watching porn and drinking. Drew Nelson reports.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Crime Alert hourly update, breaking crime news Now. I'm Drew
Nelson and Arizona father admits guilt in his daughter's hot
car death as he sat watching porn and drinking alcohol.
Christopher Schultz, thirty eight years old Marna near Tucson, pleaded
guilty this week to second degree murder and child abuse
for the twenty twenty four death of his two year

(00:20):
old daughter, Parker Schultz. The plea deal ends a high
profile case that stretched more than a year and drew
outrage over Schulte's earlier bond release and his family vacation
to Hawaii while he was awaiting trial. Schultes entered his
plea in Pima County Superior Court on Wednesday, just days
before jury selection was set to begin in his first
degree murder trial. Prosecutors said he left Parker strapped in

(00:43):
her car seat for three hours on July ninth of
twenty four while he stayed inside the family's home playing
video games, drinking, and watching pornography. The outside temperature that
day reached one hundred and nine degrees. When Schultze's wife
arrived home, she found the toddler unresponsive in the family's
accurate MS. Investigators say. Schultez told Morana police he had

(01:03):
left the child in the car with the air conditioner running,
though he knew the vehicle would automatically shut off after
thirty minutes. According to court records, Shultez admitted he quote
unquote forgot his daughter was in the car. Two of
his other daughters, ages six and nine, told detectives their
father had left them alone in a car before. Text
messages between Christopher and his wife, doctor Erica Schultez, revealed

(01:26):
growing tension over his pattern of leaving the children in
the car. On the day two year old Parker died,
Erica texted her husband in a panic as the toddler
was being rushed to the hospital, writing quote, I told
you to stop leaving them in the car. How many
times do I have to tell you? Chris Shultez replies,
quote baby, I'm sorry. Another text from Erica Reid's quote
We've lost her. She was perfect. Christopher replies, quote, Babe,

(01:49):
our family, How could I do this? I killed our baby?
This can't be real. The messages later cited in court
documents supported investigators' findings that Schultez had previously left his
ads alone in vehicles on multiple occasions. Schultz was originally
charged with first degree murder and intentional child abuse likely
to cause death or serious injury. He pleaded not guilty

(02:10):
in twenty twenty three, then rejected an earlier plea deal
that would have carried ten to twenty five years in prison.
Under his new deal, Schultez will serve between twenty and
thirty years of so called flat time, meaning he must
serve the full sentence without early release or parole. Erica
did not attend his plea hearing. He will remain free
until November fifth, when he must surrender to authorities. Sentencing

(02:33):
is set for November twenty first. In a statement, the
p MC County Attorney's Office said, quote, we are grateful
for the hard work and dedication of our prosecutors, victim advocates,
and law enforcement partners. This is yet another reminder to
the community that our office will do everything we can
to get justice for victims and prosecute those who have
caused harmed others, especially those who are most vulnerable. For

(02:55):
more on the death of Parker, Schultez joined Crime Stories
with Nancy Grace now on Fox one on SiriusXM Triumph
Channel one eleven at eight pm Eastern on YouTube and
wherever you get your podcasts. More crime and justice news
after this. The FBI is searching for Elaine and Gene Esco,

(03:19):
a Jamaican national accused of masterminding one of the largest
COVID nineteen relief fraud schemes in South Florida. She's wanted
for allegedly helping steal more than thirty four million dollars
in pandemic aid and remains on the FBI's most wanted list. Esco,
age forty, was last seen on June third in Palm
Beach County, just two days before she failed to appear
for a scheduled court hearing. A federal warrant was issued

(03:42):
for her arrest on May twenty second, charging her with
conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering,
wire fraud, and multiple counts of concealment and transactional money laundering.
Investigators say Esco, who also goes by the name Annie Palmer,
helped orchestrate the submission of more than ninety fraudulent applications
for federal pandemic relief programs between May of twenty twenty

(04:03):
and November of twenty one. The applications were filed under
fake business names and contained falsified payroll data, inflated employee counts,
and fabricated revenue figures. The alleged scheme targeted multiple programs,
including the Paycheck Protection Program, Economic Injury Disaster Loans, the
Restaurant Revitalization Fund, and the Shuttered Venue Operator's Grant. The

(04:25):
fraud led to the wrongful disbursement of approximately twenty nine
million dollars in PPP funds, one point two million dollars
from RRF, and three point eight million dollars in SVOG grants.
Federal prosecutors say once the money was dispersed, ESCO and
other's funneled payments to each other and to businesses they controlled,
withdrew large sums in cash, and used blank sign checks

(04:47):
to conceal the true source of the money. The FBI
Miami Field Office has warned that Esco should be considered
a flight risk. Agents believe she may have already fled
the country. She's five four one forty, black with black hair,
brown ear, and multiple tattoos, including on her left wrist,
her belly, her back, and right shoulder. Anyone with information
about Elaine and Jene ESCO's Whereabouts deserves to contact the

(05:09):
FBI's toll free tip line at eight hundred call FBI
or go to tips dot FBI dot com and you
do not have to leave your name. For the latest
crime and justice news, follow Crime Alert hourly update on
your favorite podcast app with this crime Alert. I'm Drew Nelson.