July 22, 2024 • 40 mins
Arriving home from running errands, Christopher Scholtes notices his two-year-old daughter, Parker, is asleep in her car seat. Rather than disturbing her by waking her up to go inside the house, the Arizona father of three leave the toddler in the vehicle with the air conditioner running. Scholtes knows from previous experience with his Acura MDX the air conditioner and vehicle will run for about 30 minutes before shutting off automatically.
Wife, Dr. Erika Scholtes, arrives home just aft 4PM. She sees her 5- and 9-year-old daughters and asks husband, Chris, "where is Parker"? Christopher Scholtes first begins looking in the rooms of the house, then darts outside, where he realizes he left Parker in the Accura. The vehicle is off, the air conditioner is not running, the outside temperature is over 109 degrees and Parker Scholtes is taken out of the car, unresponsive, strapped in her child restraint system.
When first responders arrive at the scene, the outside temperature is over 109 degrees. The toddler is transported to the Banner University Medical Center, the same hospital her mother works as an anesthesiologist. Unable to resuscitate the 2-year-old, Parker Scholtes is pronounced dead at 4:58 p.m.
Investigators locate surveillance footage from a neighbor and watch as Chris Scholtes arrives home at 12:53 PM, not the 2:30 PM time Scholtes told them earlier. Scholtes is seen on video walking into the house alone and is not seen on video coming back out of the house again until after his wife, Dr. Erika Scholtes, arrives home.
Investigators conduct forensic interviews with the other children and find out that their father leaves all three of them in the car alone, regularly. It is the children that tell investigators that during the time Parker was left in the car, their father was distracted "playing his game" and "putting his food away".
Joining Nancy today:
- Darryl Cohen – Former Assistant District Attorney (Fulton County, Georgia) Former Assistant State Attorney (Florida), and Defense Attorney: Cohen, Cooper, Estep, & Allen, LLC; Facebook: “Darryl B Cohen;” X: @DarrylBCohen
- Dr. Kendall Crowns – Chief Medical Examiner Tarrant County (Ft Worth) and Lecturer: University of Texas Austin and Texas Christian University Medical School
- Caryn L. Stark – Psychologist, Renowned TV and Radio Trauma Expert and Consultant; Instagram: carynpsych/FB: Caryn Stark Private Practice
- Amber Rollins - Director, Kids and Car Safety www.KidsAndCars.org IG: KidsAndCarSafety X: @KidsAndCars
- Alexis Terezscuk - CrimeOnline Investigative reporter, Writer/Fact Checker @LeadStoriesCom, and Former Entertainment Reporter X: @swimmie2009
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
A beautiful little girl just two years old dies and
one hundred and nine degree hot car where she is left.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
For hours by daddy.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
And where was daddy as this little girl clawed at
herself in a stifling air inside the car? Oh that's right,
daddy's on PlayStation. Repeat, Daddy's on PlayStation.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
He says he forgot his daughter was in the car.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Good evening. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank
you for being with us. I told you to stop
leaving them in the car. Shocking texts after a toddler
dies in a car while dad plays video games very
disturbing that are now being revealed. But I want you
(01:04):
to listen to this.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
There's a baby on the ground and go where he station? No, lao, man,
(01:34):
here's that.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
In?
Speaker 3 (01:39):
Yeah, ma'am in the car?
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Does anyone recognize the name Baby Cooper or Justin Ross Harris?
Speaker 1 (01:48):
I do.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
That call was placed years ago, yet here we are
again today. What this two year old little lived through
before she finally succumbed is unspeakable.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Did we learn nothing from Baby Cooper?
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Listen you said if you were four or five feet
away from Baby Cooper What did you observe about him?
Speaker 4 (02:15):
You look clean.
Speaker 5 (02:17):
I saw no bruises, I saw no abrasions. Here wasn't pulled.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Back, it was well. Was he laying on his back
or a stomach? He was laying on his back, okay.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Because the abrasions mostly are on the back of the head,
where we believe he was banging up against his car
seat trying to get out.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
So was he pale?
Speaker 3 (02:36):
No, he looked normal.
Speaker 6 (02:38):
He just was lifeless.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
He looked like a little bitty baby doll getting taken
out of the car. Nothing was wrong on the front anyway,
But upon examination at the medical examiner's office, the back
of his head showed where he had banged back trying
to get out of the car seat where he was
(03:00):
trapped in. There were claw marks where he tried to
claw trying to get his clothes off, or clawing at
the seat belt.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
The air getting stifling hot? How hot?
Speaker 2 (03:15):
I want you to hear what a vet says when
this vet does an experiment about people leaving their dog
in a hot car.
Speaker 7 (03:28):
Listen, So let's start a timer and let's see exactly
how hot it gets in here. I'm at five minutes in.
It is unbelievably hot in here. We're nearing one hundred
degrees already, and I can tell you that it is
stifling in here. Okay, I'm at fifteen minutes now and
(03:51):
it's about one hundred and ten. In my car. The
temperature right now is about one fifteen. What I really
wanted to set out to do is see how I
felt to be left in a parked car.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
You're hearing doctor Ernie Ward speaking. He actually set a timer.
Listen to what else he.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
Has to say.
Speaker 7 (04:12):
I mean, this kills and it's allowsy way to die
and slowly but surely, having the energy and the life
just burnt out of them by this heat. And you
can make all the excuses you want, you can say,
it'll just be for a second. I'm gonna leave the
windows cracked, it's a breezy day, it's not that hot.
(04:33):
But those excuses are meaningless unless you have sat in
that car during that same time.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Again, that's doctor Ernie Ward speaking, and he was addressing
people that leave their pets in a hot car. Joining
me an all star panel to make sense of what
we know right now. But we're not talking about a
dog left in a car or a pet left in
a car. We're not talking about Baby Hooper that died
(05:01):
in a hot car. We are now talking about a
beautiful little girl just two years old, Parker Schultz. Parker
died outside their family home in Arizona as dad left
her out there, claiming he let her sleep in the car.
Speaker 8 (05:21):
Listen to this as Christopher Schultz calls nine one one.
Doctor Erika Schultz performed CPR on little Parker. When first
responders arrive on the scene, the outside temperature is over
one hundred and nine degrees. The toddler is transported to
the Banner University Medical Center, the same hospital her mother
works as an antiseesiologist. Unable to resuscitate the two year old, Parker,
(05:42):
Schultz is pronounced dead at four fifty eight pm.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Straight out to Alexis Tereschuk Crime online dot Com investigative reporter,
Let's just start at the beginning what happened leading up
to the baby's death.
Speaker 9 (05:56):
So the baby's father, Christopher Schultz, has her in the car,
he goes out, he comes home, she is apparently sleeping
in the car and her little car seat in the back.
So he gets out of his car, he leaves it
running and he goes inside the house, thinking, oh, he
didn't well. His story is, I didn't want to wake
her up, because no one ever wants to wake up
their sleeping child. So he leaves her in the car,
(06:18):
goes inside his house. His wife, who is a doctor,
comes home from work four o'clock in the afternoon. She
pulls into the driveway. She goes inside the house. All
of a sudden, she says, where's Parker, and the dad
apparently goes running checks every single room in the house,
is oh, I don't know where he is, and then
runs back outside says, oh, no, I must have left
(06:39):
her in the car. The mom, because she's a doctor,
starts performing CPR. They call nine one one, and the
police and the ambulance arrive and they take this little girl.
Speaker 10 (06:48):
They're desperate to save her.
Speaker 9 (06:49):
They can take her to the hospital and that is
where she was pronounced dead.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
In Arizona in July, the temperatures as high as one
hundred and eight degrees outside to especial guests joining us.
In addition to Alexis Terresshut with Crime Online, Amber Rollins
is joining US Director of Kids in Cars Safety at
Kidsandcars dot Org.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Amber Rollins thank you for being with us.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
I've covered and investigated so many hot car deaths and
it's almost always a child. And there's no reason for
you to know this, Amber, But I observed when I
prosecuted and investigated crimes in intercity Atlanta. But when the
crime victim it's an infant or a child, very often,
(07:39):
very often, the case is plied down to involuntary or
voluntary manslaughter. If it were an adult or a teen
that had a voice of their own, things are much different.
But when it's a child, they're often treated like a
pet that it's not the same as an adult. The
(08:00):
suffering this little girl went through was agonizing.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Amber.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Could you explain what happens inside of a car when
it's one hundred and eight degrees outside of the car?
Speaker 11 (08:14):
Yeah, So a vehicle is essentially a greenhouse, so it
allows that solar energy to come in through the windows
and traps that heat inside. So the inside of the
vehicle heats up very quickly compete, you know, deathly temperatures
for a child within minutes, especially when it's somewhere one
hundred degrees outside.
Speaker 10 (08:32):
But it doesn't have to be that hot.
Speaker 11 (08:33):
Actually, we've documented cases even when this year where it
was in the sixties outside and a child died inside
of the vehicle.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
So if it's one hundred and eight degrees, which is
about as hot as that has gotten in Arizona in July,
that's the hottest. What would the tent be inside the car?
If it's one hundred and eight degrees outside the car.
Speaker 10 (08:54):
It would be very high.
Speaker 11 (08:55):
And it's really hard to say because there are so
many different factors that go into play.
Speaker 10 (09:00):
When this car was left, the air conditioning was on.
Speaker 11 (09:02):
We don't know exactly how long it was running. You know,
if the windows are tinted, the color of the vehicle,
what color of you know, is it pass falt or
cement makes a difference. Is there any shade covering the car?
You know, all of these things play a role. But
in those kind of temperatures, literally minutes would be deadly
for a child.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
To Alexis Restuk joining us.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
We have been researching it and speaking to experts on it,
experts like Amber Rollins from Kidsincars dot org, and we
have learned that if it's around one hundred and eight,
which is the hottest it's gotten in Arizona in July,
chimps inside a car. And we also know correct me
if I'm wrong, Alexis, because you also have been investigating
(09:44):
the case. She was sitting in direct sunlight. She was
not in a garage or a car port. The car
turned off, which is a whole nother issue about when
a car turns off when you leave it on and
you leave it even if you leave the electronic keyfob
(10:07):
in the car, the car will cut off.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
It will not keep going.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
This car, I understand, cuts off after about thirty minutes
generally speaking. But wasn't she in direct sunlight? Because what
we have learned, Alexis, is that at one hundred and
eight degrees outside, a car can get between one hundred
and thirty and one hundred and seventy two degrees.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
It's literally like being in an oven.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
I mean, haven't you seen pictures of people when it's
so hot they fry an egg on their car.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
That's what it's like to be inside the car.
Speaker 9 (10:41):
So the car in the driveway was actually facing west
so as the sun was because so originally actually Christopher,
the father said he came home at two thirty and
the mom came home at four, So at two thirty
in the afternoon, the car facing west, the sun is
no longer directly a hub ahead of you is coming
down and beaming straight into the car. And she was
(11:04):
in the backseat, so just directly on her. There was
no shade, It was not even a garage was in
the direct sideline.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
Interesting, he says. He got home around to thirty. Listen
to this.
Speaker 8 (11:15):
Arriving home from running errands, Christopher Schultz notices his two
year old daughter, Parker, is asleep in her car seat.
Rather than disturbing her by waking her up to go
inside the house, the PM the County Arizona father of
three decides to leave the toddler in the vehicle with
the air conditioner running. Schultz knows from previous experience with
his accurate MDX the air conditioner and vehicle will run
(11:35):
for about thirty minutes before shutting off automatically.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
Now that's something that can be proven at trial. Crime
Stories with Nancy Grace joining me again an all star panel,
but now out to high profile lawyering us out of
(12:00):
the Atlanta jurisdiction. Darryl Cohen, former felony prosecutor now defense attorney.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
Darryl Cohen.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
We saw in the Alex Murdog double murder trial. Murdog
went on trial for the shooting murders of his wife
Maggie and son Paul. His navigation system in his car
played a huge role. His nav system, Daryl Cohen navigation system,
(12:31):
and I think he was driving a suburban. If I
recall correctly, showed everything, Darryl. It was a defense attorney's
worst nightmare. It showed how he opened the door of
his car, his SUV, around the same exact time they
were shot getting in. It showed him It could show
(12:52):
when he turned the car on, and he turned the
air condition on, when he put it.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
In drive, when he slowed down, let the window down.
All this is on the nav system.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
You know, you put on your blinker or let your
window down, it shows up on your nav system.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
It's that sensitive where he's slowed down and oh what
co inch you think Maggie's.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
Phone was found right outside where he slowed down and
let his window down, let the window up, and sped off.
It showed how long he visited his mother and then
came back to the crime scene to find the dead bodies,
and showed all of that. So everything that this father
says in this case about leaving his daughter Parker in
(13:34):
the car can be destroyed or verified based on the
NAV system.
Speaker 12 (13:42):
So, Nancy, in the murderer case, I changed his name
to Lidall because that's what he was, the complete compelling wire.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
You're not really helping the defense right now.
Speaker 12 (13:53):
I am trying to help with the truth. There is
no defense to system. But there is a defense for
as him not realizing how long he left his child there,
him not realizing how long the car would run until
it automatically stopped due to the situation.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
How do you attack scientific evidence like an AV system.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
There's got to be a way. There is a way.
Speaker 6 (14:18):
The way I.
Speaker 12 (14:19):
Attack scientific evidence as I say, it is what it is.
But here is an explanation. Here's an explanation why the
scientific evidence doesn't show everything. The scientific evidence doesn't show
his intent. The scientific evidence doesn't show how long he
was actually out of the car. The scientific evidence doesn't
(14:41):
show whether or not he may or may not.
Speaker 6 (14:43):
Have come to check on her.
Speaker 12 (14:45):
Scientific evidence is good, but also there's real evidence, and
there's logic, and scientific evidence is normally real, but it
can be explained and mitigated from time to time.
Speaker 5 (14:58):
Murder charges against an Arizona dad who leaves his two
year old daughter to die inside the family car in
one hundred and nine degree heat.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
One hundred and.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
Nine degree heat, I thought it the highest in Arizona
was one hundred and eight. It's even hotter than I thought. Okay,
we're trying to make sense of what we are learning
right now, but this is what happens when mommy comes home.
Hold off, speaking of mommy, Alexis Tereschuk, did the dad work?
Speaker 10 (15:32):
I did not know if the dad worked.
Speaker 9 (15:34):
I believe that he She is a doctor, and I
believe that he took care of their children, because they
have three children.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
I was wondering, Alexis Terestchuk, if this is a Sam
Haskell the Fourth situation where you remember the son of
the famous Hollywood agent that represents Whoopi Goldberg and Dolly
Parton and so many others. His son, Sam Haskell the Fourth,
the one that was on video whining about his steak
(16:02):
being too well done at some fancy restaurant there in
La right. His wife, who he killed. He's about to
go on trial for that. Her torso was found in
a dumpster. Not similar in that manner, but she was
the one working and supporting the entire family while he
(16:24):
went and had steak rare steaks at lunchtime. But in
his case, he didn't even take care of the children.
Her parents had moved in to take care of the children.
It seems as if in this case, the dad is
taking care of the children. Of course, Parker is now
dead on his watch. But this is what happens when
(16:46):
mommy gets home.
Speaker 13 (16:48):
Arriving home a few minutes after four pm, doctor Erica
Schultz sees her five and nine year old daughters and
asked husband Chris, where is their two year old daughter, Parker.
Christopher Schultz first begins looking in the rooms of the house,
then darts outside, where he realizes he left Parker in
the Accura. The vehicle is off, the air conditioner is
not running, the outside temperature is over one hundred and
(17:10):
nine degrees, and Parker Schultz is taken out of the car, unresponsive,
strapped in her child restraint system.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
So mommy gets home from a long day working at
the hospital to question where is my daughter? She sees
her five and nine year olds, but she can't find
the baby.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
Well, this is what we learn happened.
Speaker 8 (17:34):
Arriving home from running errands. Christopher Schultz notices his two
year old daughter, Parker, is asleep in her car seat.
Rather than disturbing her by waking her up to go
inside the house, the Pima County, Arizona father of three
decides to leave the toddler in the vehicle with the
air conditioner running. Schultz knows from previous experience with his
accurate MDX the air conditioner and vehicle will run for
(17:54):
about thirty minutes before shutting off automatically.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
Joining me now is.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
A renowned medical examiner, the chief medical examiner in Terran County.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
That's Fort Worth, Texas. Never a lack of business there.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
Lecturer at the Burnett School of Medicine at TCU, doctor
Kimball Crowns, is joining us.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
Doctor Kimball Crowns.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
There are several ways to die, but dying in a
hot car is not one I would wish on anyone.
What happens during a hot car death?
Speaker 10 (18:28):
All right?
Speaker 1 (18:29):
So what you die?
Speaker 14 (18:30):
You die from hyperthermia or heat stroke. In babies especially,
they don't adjust to heat as well as adults. So
they add their body is actually heat up about three
to five times faster than an adult, so they're even
more exquisitely sensitive to heat changes. So what happens is,
initially you begin sweating, your blood vessels dilate or days
(18:55):
of dilation, as the blood is kind of pumped more
to your skin surface to try and cool your body off.
As you become hotter and hotter, you're sweating more, You're
you're shunting more of your blood to your skin surface,
so you have less blood circulating throughout your body. And
then eventually this results in your heart going beating faster,
(19:16):
you start becoming lightheaded, you start vomiting, becoming dizzy, and
then eventually you stop sweating because you have no more
fluid left, and then your body goes into organ failure.
Your heart and kidneys shut down, and you die. And
this happens over the course of minutes to thirty minutes.
Especially in a child in that hot of an environment,
(19:38):
they're not going to last very long.
Speaker 5 (19:40):
A toddler left in a car for over three hours
dies as Arizona summer temperatures soar to one hundred and
nine degrees.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
I learned a lot about this from a doctor that
actually got in a hot car and suffered to keep
people from leaving their pits in a car.
Speaker 7 (20:04):
Listen, I'm your pet, and I'm now in the car.
I've got all four windows cracked down about an inch.
So let's start a timer and let's see exactly how
hot it gets in here. It's one hundred and six
in here at ten minutes in, and I'm beginning to
wonder if this was a very bad idea. Indeed, I'm
at fifteen minutes now and it's about one hundred and
(20:28):
ten in my car. Twenty five minutes. It's now, oh gosh,
what is it? One hundred and thirteen degrees thirty minutes
in a parked car with a windows cracked. The temperature
right now is about one fifteen one sixteen, really hot.
(20:51):
The only thought that's going through my head right now
is I just I want out.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
Of the car.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
You know.
Speaker 7 (20:55):
It's just everything in my body is saying, get out,
get out, get out. I can just feel rivulets of
sweat just careening down my body.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
Doctor Kendall Crown is joining us. We're now Medical Examiner
out of Fort Worth. Chief medical Examiner, Doctor Kendall Crown's again,
thank you for being with us. I'm trying to understand
I heard your explanation earlier of what happens when a
person dies of hot card death. I understand the organs
start shutting down a little over when the body gets
(21:27):
to a little over one hundred degrees. Death occurs, of
course by one o seven one hundred and seven degrees.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
But what is heat stroke? Does the person? Does the
baby die of heat stroke? Whatever that is?
Speaker 2 (21:46):
Because it's got the word stroke in it, Why is
it heat stroke? Does your body respond to the heat
like it's having a stroke. And I'm trying to reconcile
that doctor Kenel Craws with what I know about. I
hate to say his name because it just the baby
(22:09):
we spoke of earlier.
Speaker 1 (22:10):
Whose.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
Back of his head was all scratched up and he
had been scratching at his neck.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
How does that fit in with your explanation?
Speaker 14 (22:26):
So as you become more and more hot, you can
become confused. People can start seizing, which would cause them
to maybe hit their head back. Also trying to get
out of the environment as well. You'll be clawing at
whatever is restricting you. Even a baby is going to
try and get out of there if they can, so
they'll be pulling at the seatbelt, etc. Or pounding their
(22:49):
head on something, So it can be a seizure, it
could be them trying to get out of the restraints.
Any of those could result in the injuries that you're describing.
As far as the heat stroke question, it's basically, as
your blood is being shunted to your skin surface to
try and cool you off, it's decreasing the amount of blood.
Speaker 6 (23:09):
You have and the rest of your body.
Speaker 14 (23:11):
So it's not unlike a stroke or even can cause
a heart attack because you don't get enough oxygenated blood
to your brain and your heart, which can cause them
to shut down. But it's really more from the volume
shift of the blood to the skin surface instead of
it going to the organs that results in heart failure
and kidney failure.
Speaker 1 (23:30):
How long would it take to die in hot car,
doctor Kindall Crowns.
Speaker 14 (23:34):
For an adult, it could be, you know, a lot
longer than for a kid. The kids are get hotter
about three to five times faster than an adult, So
I would say in that hot environment under an hour.
For an infant, probably under thirty minutes.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
You know, doctor Kindle Crowns. The other week was with
my son. We went to a basketball game where he
was playing and I was working, so he went ahead
in to warm up, and I sat in his truck
with cargo with it going. The truck was going and
continued to work, and I noticed it seemed like after
(24:13):
about twenty minutes that the car shut off, even though
I had the keyfob, that the truck shut off, even
though I had the keyfob. I thought, well, it's not
so hot in here, so I left it off and
I kept working. After about ten minutes with the car
with the truck off, it felt like I couldn't breathe.
(24:34):
I reached over and turned it back on and turned
on the air conditioned back on.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
But what is that sensation?
Speaker 2 (24:40):
I know that there was air in the cab of
the truck, but it felt like there wasn't any air.
Speaker 1 (24:47):
It was stifling.
Speaker 14 (24:48):
It's again, as your body is reacting to the heat,
your blood vessels are beginning to dilate, so the blood's
coming to your skin surface to try and cool you off,
and that's shipping bood volumes, making you you consciously feel
that there's something changed internally. It can make you feel
like you're not being able to breathe, or you'll start
(25:08):
getting a headache or getting dizzy. So any of that
reaction you're having is your body's compensating for that heat,
and that's making you feel uncomfortable. So as an adult,
you know, you'll turn the car back on, you'll get
out of the car, go somewhere cooler. But a kid
or a baby who's trapped in their restraining device of
a car seat can't move, so they're feeling all that too,
(25:30):
but they can't get out of that environment, and no
one's coming.
Speaker 6 (25:33):
To help them.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
So this is what we know of what the dad
in Parker's case said to investigators.
Speaker 1 (25:42):
Listen.
Speaker 13 (25:42):
Chris Schultz tells investigators he got home around two thirty PM,
and since his daughter was asleep in the car, he
decides to let the car run with the air conditioner
on rather than wake her up and take her inside.
Schultz says he got distracted putting away groceries and playing
video games. Schultz tells police he knows his I Create
MDX will run for around thirty minutes with the air
(26:03):
conditioner operating before automatically shutting off.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
Joining me high profile defense attorney out of the Atlanta jurisdiction,
Darryl Cohen. So why is he lying about the time
he got home? How do you explain that at trial,
Darryl Cohen?
Speaker 12 (26:19):
You explain it at trial, Nancy by saying.
Speaker 6 (26:22):
He wasn't lying. I am not lying. My client wasn't lying.
Speaker 12 (26:26):
He believed that he got home at the time that
he told everyone he did. The fact that the scientific
evidence disagrees makes him not telling the truth, but it
doesn't make him a liar. It doesn't also explain why
he didn't go out and check on his child. But
on the other hand, he knew the car was running,
(26:47):
he knew the air conditioning would be on for at
least thirty minutes, and in his mind, time just went
by very quickly. I'm not a video game player, but
as a game player, time just goes by more quickly
than you can believe.
Speaker 2 (27:03):
Okay, so the baby's in the car, He's got two
other little children, miners, all under.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
Ten, in the home, and he leaves the baby out there.
Speaker 2 (27:14):
And you're saying your defense would be time slips away.
Speaker 1 (27:20):
Is that what you just said, Absolutely, Nancy.
Speaker 6 (27:23):
I was busy. I was taking the groceries, I being
the defendant, the defendant was picking up the groceries. I'd stopped.
Speaker 12 (27:31):
I went and played a video game or two and
I didn't realize how much time had gone by because.
Speaker 6 (27:37):
I knew I did the right thing. I let her
sleep and I kept the car running.
Speaker 12 (27:43):
Oh my gosh. I love my daughter. I would never
have let something happen to her. It's just an innocent mistake.
Tournaments bad.
Speaker 5 (27:51):
He's an amazing father, a mummy defends dead in court
after he leaves their two year old daughter to die
a hot car.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
An amazing dad. Okay, I'm concerned.
Speaker 2 (28:04):
I get that the mom was begging the court for
dad to be released.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
Say he's an amazing dad. But wait, listen to this.
Speaker 4 (28:14):
Chris and Erica Schultz have two older daughters, ages nine
and five, and investigators conduct forensic interviews with them and
find out that their father, Chris Schultz, leaves all three
of them in the car alone regularly. It is the
children that tell investigators that during the time Parker was
left in the car, their father was distracted quote playing
(28:37):
his game and putting his food away.
Speaker 1 (28:39):
Playing his game. What you know what?
Speaker 2 (28:43):
Let me go to Karen Stark on this first ale
to stress track, Is that correct he was playing PlayStation
while the baby's out dying in the car.
Speaker 9 (28:50):
Yes, And the thing was he didn't con I didn't
say to the police, oh gosh, you know what, I
really did come home a tall thirty.
Speaker 10 (28:56):
The police investigated.
Speaker 9 (28:57):
They went door to door around this neighborhood and they
asked for video from people bring cameras or home security,
and that's when they saw him come in at one o'clock,
the full hour and a half, ninety minutes before he
said he came home, so they had to go to
the neighbors to find that out. He didn't offer anything,
and the children are the ones that said, well, yeah,
daddy leaves us alone all the time.
Speaker 10 (29:19):
And mommy sent him a text. The two of them
were texting.
Speaker 9 (29:23):
It's part of the police court records, and she's after
it happened, she said, what is going on?
Speaker 10 (29:28):
I told you to stop leaving him them in the car.
Speaker 9 (29:31):
How many times have I told you this? This is
obviously a pattern with him. She knew that this was
something that he did and she's asked to stop, and
he just couldn't be bothered.
Speaker 1 (29:48):
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
Karen started joining me renown psychologist, TV radio trauma expert
at karenstart dot com. Karen, did you say earlier forgotten
baby syndrome.
Speaker 1 (30:04):
Yes, I did.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
Oh no, are you what is this some kind of
a defense that he had a syndrome where he has
some medical condition where he forgets the baby?
Speaker 1 (30:15):
No, no, no, not manly, you just did. Do you
know what you just did? You opened Pandora's box?
Speaker 2 (30:24):
Are you familiar with Roman and or Greek mythology where
the Pandora's box is opened and all the evils of
the universe come out and they haunt and taunt and
destroy mankind from then on. You've just probably handed over
a defense straight to defense attorneys all over the country.
(30:47):
Forgotten baby syndrome. Oh, that's what happened. Don't blame him.
It was forgotten baby syndrome. It's not an excuse, Nancy.
It's something that happens. But it doesn't mean that it's acceptable.
Speaker 15 (31:00):
Well, especially in this case, it's not acceptable because he
had been warned. It's not like it never happened before
he was told, don't leave them in the car.
Speaker 1 (31:12):
What is it? What's forgotten baby syndrome.
Speaker 15 (31:15):
It's a syndrome that happens to parents when they happen
to be used to doing a certain routine. They always
drop the baby off. They always go to work and
something changes in the routine and they keep going on
automatic pilots straight to what they normally do, and they.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
Actually forget the baby.
Speaker 15 (31:37):
And it's not excusable, but it does happen, and they
love their child, and the brain keeps going into what
they're used to doing. It doesn't apply in this case
because this man was not going to work, he was
not dropping off his child, and forgetting that he didn't
(31:58):
drop off the child. In this case, he was home
with three children. He was putting away groceries and playing games,
so there was no reason for him to forget that
his child was in the car. He just got abdarped
and the fun that he was having playing the game.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
And I'm just trying to figure out is there some.
Speaker 2 (32:20):
Type of an addiction to playing games or is this
some type of a release where you've been working all day?
Because I find myself listening to a book on tape,
or researching for crime stories, just all sorts of things,
and while I'm doing that, I'm not thinking about other matters.
(32:44):
But I don't do it research work while I'm taking
care of minor children.
Speaker 1 (32:52):
So is that some kind of a mind release playing
the games?
Speaker 15 (32:56):
Is, but it doesn't make sense to be doing that
when you you are responsible for children. When you're responsible
for children, that is the first thing that should be
in your mind.
Speaker 1 (33:06):
That was his job. His job was to take care
of these three children.
Speaker 15 (33:11):
And he is an I hate to say, but this
is the truth. He's an unfit parent. It's a use
when you are not paying attention to the three children
you have well.
Speaker 1 (33:22):
And there's more to it than that.
Speaker 2 (33:24):
There's more to it than just forgetting Amber Rollins is
joining a special guest. She is the director of Kids
in Car Safety at Kidsandcars dot org. Amber, you were
telling us about an app that you put on your
phone that you hook up to your car. I write
(33:45):
about something similar in my book Don't Be a Victim
Where there are censors now that when you get out
of your car, if something sitting on a back seat,
it makes an alarm that should remind you, like the
day ding ding ding when you don't put on your
seat belt, ding ding ding, you're leaving a child in
the back stat But tell me about that app you're describing.
Speaker 11 (34:08):
So one thing that hasn't been reported about this case
in any of the news articles, except for one that
I've read is that the father knew that it had
this shut off, but he got a notification on his
phone through the app that the car was shutting off,
and he reported that on that day he did not
(34:28):
get that reminder. And I just want to challenge this
mindset that this father wasn't fit to be a parent.
Speaker 10 (34:39):
We don't have all the facts yet.
Speaker 11 (34:41):
They haven't released all of the facts in this case,
so we're working with what has been released right now.
But this isn't unlike other cases that we've documented in
our Safety has been tracking this issue for thirty years.
I have read in gruesome detail each and every single
one of those cases. There are other cases you're similar
(35:02):
to this, where a well intentioned parent came home, left
a sleeping child in the car, went inside, unloaded groceries,
you know, got into a routine, much like these parents
who were in a routine on autopilot mode driving from
home to work. You know, I'm not descending this father,
but I'm also not condemning him because we just don't
know what his intentions were.
Speaker 16 (35:24):
I'm just asking if you can allow him to come
home to us so we can all start the grieving process,
so that he can bury our daughter with us this
upcoming week and that we can go through this process
together as a family. This was a big mistake, and
I think that this doesn't represent him, and I just
(35:44):
want the girls to see their father so that I don't.
Speaker 10 (35:47):
Have to tell them tonight that they're going to endure
another loss.
Speaker 2 (35:49):
You are hearing doctor Erica Schultz. That's Christopher Schultz's wife,
the mother of baby Parker. That was from our friends at.
Speaker 1 (35:56):
KVOA TV.
Speaker 2 (36:00):
In court begging the court to allow her husband to
come home.
Speaker 1 (36:06):
The family so distraught.
Speaker 2 (36:08):
And I agree partially with what Amber Rollins was saying
the director at Kidsincars dot org that you can have
a very well intentioned parent that leaves a child in
the car. Does that make the child's death any less painful?
Does that somehow bring the child back to life? No,
(36:31):
one may immediately regret the deed, but that does not
negate the intent or frame of mind at the time
of the incident. And I am reciting to you verbatim
the black and white letter of the law. Remember, one
may immediately regret the deed, that does not change the
(36:53):
facts at the time of the incident.
Speaker 1 (36:56):
You may not like it, you might feel.
Speaker 2 (36:57):
Sorry for the dad and the mom in a way
I do, but my responsibility and has always been, is
to the crime victim. The child is dead, she suffered
a horrible death.
Speaker 1 (37:14):
Did he mean to do it? Of course not.
Speaker 2 (37:16):
I don't think there's any scenario in which he meant
for his child to die.
Speaker 1 (37:22):
This is akin to.
Speaker 2 (37:24):
Driving a car at ninety mph through let's just say
a street market and four or five people getting mowed
down dead. You didn't mean to you didn't even know them.
But it is an abandoned, malignant heart, as it is
called in the law, a disregard for human life. And
(37:45):
it's not the first time.
Speaker 4 (37:46):
Listen in a sweltering Hollywood, Florida Walmart parking lot on
Sunday afternoon, a five year old child is screaming from
the slightly cracked window in a hot car.
Speaker 1 (37:57):
Mommy leaves her child.
Speaker 4 (37:58):
Inside the audy with no ac while she shops inside.
CCTV shows thirty four year old Anastasia Multilava shopping while
her child's trapped in the car. She's arrested and facing
charges of felony child neglect.
Speaker 2 (38:14):
That child lived, You were hearing Nicole Parton from Crime
Online dot com and of course, West Memphis listen.
Speaker 8 (38:24):
West Memphis, Tennessee. Employees of a cent Children's Health Services
failed to do the most basic part of their job,
count children in and out of the van and taking
roll call inside. Four employees claim they did their job
the day, five year old Christopher Gardner is left in
a van all day, strapped into a booster seat for
eight hours. The todd was marked present in class while
(38:46):
he was actually trapped in the van trying to take
off his clothes to cool down. When a worker went
to the van to take the children home, five year
old Christopher was found dead.
Speaker 2 (38:55):
And there you have daycare workers, and they made the mistake,
the fatal mistake of leaving a child strapped in a
hot car. Intentions do they matter? What we know is
that this child suffered a horrible death. We know that
(39:16):
the mother, a well known doctor in the area, begged
for the husband to be let out of jail and
not stay behind bars. Alexis Teresschuk was her request granted?
Speaker 4 (39:28):
It was?
Speaker 7 (39:28):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (39:28):
The judge did grant that everyone hot car deaths happen.
If you have questions, dial one eight hundred four two
two four four five three. If you really care about
your minor children. Look into the app that would save
your child from a hot car death that we were
(39:50):
hearing about from our guest, Amber Rawlins. Go to kidsincars
dot org and save your child. Pass it on as
temperatures increase outside. We can stop the deaths of children
all across our country. Nancy Grace signing off, goodbye friend.
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
A beautiful little girl just two years old dies and
one hundred and nine degree hot car where she is left.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
For hours by daddy.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
And where was daddy as this little girl clawed at
herself in a stifling air inside the car? Oh that's right,
daddy's on PlayStation. Repeat, Daddy's on PlayStation.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
He says he forgot his daughter was in the car.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Good evening. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank
you for being with us. I told you to stop
leaving them in the car. Shocking texts after a toddler
dies in a car while dad plays video games very
disturbing that are now being revealed. But I want you
(01:04):
to listen to this.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
There's a baby on the ground and go where he station? No, lao, man,
(01:34):
here's that.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
In?
Speaker 3 (01:39):
Yeah, ma'am in the car?
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Does anyone recognize the name Baby Cooper or Justin Ross Harris?
Speaker 1 (01:48):
I do.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
That call was placed years ago, yet here we are
again today. What this two year old little lived through
before she finally succumbed is unspeakable.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Did we learn nothing from Baby Cooper?
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Listen you said if you were four or five feet
away from Baby Cooper What did you observe about him?
Speaker 4 (02:15):
You look clean.
Speaker 5 (02:17):
I saw no bruises, I saw no abrasions. Here wasn't pulled.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Back, it was well. Was he laying on his back
or a stomach? He was laying on his back, okay.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Because the abrasions mostly are on the back of the head,
where we believe he was banging up against his car
seat trying to get out.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
So was he pale?
Speaker 3 (02:36):
No, he looked normal.
Speaker 6 (02:38):
He just was lifeless.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
He looked like a little bitty baby doll getting taken
out of the car. Nothing was wrong on the front anyway,
But upon examination at the medical examiner's office, the back
of his head showed where he had banged back trying
to get out of the car seat where he was
(03:00):
trapped in. There were claw marks where he tried to
claw trying to get his clothes off, or clawing at
the seat belt.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
The air getting stifling hot? How hot?
Speaker 2 (03:15):
I want you to hear what a vet says when
this vet does an experiment about people leaving their dog
in a hot car.
Speaker 7 (03:28):
Listen, So let's start a timer and let's see exactly
how hot it gets in here. I'm at five minutes in.
It is unbelievably hot in here. We're nearing one hundred
degrees already, and I can tell you that it is
stifling in here. Okay, I'm at fifteen minutes now and
(03:51):
it's about one hundred and ten. In my car. The
temperature right now is about one fifteen. What I really
wanted to set out to do is see how I
felt to be left in a parked car.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
You're hearing doctor Ernie Ward speaking. He actually set a timer.
Listen to what else he.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
Has to say.
Speaker 7 (04:12):
I mean, this kills and it's allowsy way to die
and slowly but surely, having the energy and the life
just burnt out of them by this heat. And you
can make all the excuses you want, you can say,
it'll just be for a second. I'm gonna leave the
windows cracked, it's a breezy day, it's not that hot.
(04:33):
But those excuses are meaningless unless you have sat in
that car during that same time.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Again, that's doctor Ernie Ward speaking, and he was addressing
people that leave their pets in a hot car. Joining
me an all star panel to make sense of what
we know right now. But we're not talking about a
dog left in a car or a pet left in
a car. We're not talking about Baby Hooper that died
(05:01):
in a hot car. We are now talking about a
beautiful little girl just two years old, Parker Schultz. Parker
died outside their family home in Arizona as dad left
her out there, claiming he let her sleep in the car.
Speaker 8 (05:21):
Listen to this as Christopher Schultz calls nine one one.
Doctor Erika Schultz performed CPR on little Parker. When first
responders arrive on the scene, the outside temperature is over
one hundred and nine degrees. The toddler is transported to
the Banner University Medical Center, the same hospital her mother
works as an antiseesiologist. Unable to resuscitate the two year old, Parker,
(05:42):
Schultz is pronounced dead at four fifty eight pm.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Straight out to Alexis Tereschuk Crime online dot Com investigative reporter,
Let's just start at the beginning what happened leading up
to the baby's death.
Speaker 9 (05:56):
So the baby's father, Christopher Schultz, has her in the car,
he goes out, he comes home, she is apparently sleeping
in the car and her little car seat in the back.
So he gets out of his car, he leaves it
running and he goes inside the house, thinking, oh, he
didn't well. His story is, I didn't want to wake
her up, because no one ever wants to wake up
their sleeping child. So he leaves her in the car,
(06:18):
goes inside his house. His wife, who is a doctor,
comes home from work four o'clock in the afternoon. She
pulls into the driveway. She goes inside the house. All
of a sudden, she says, where's Parker, and the dad
apparently goes running checks every single room in the house,
is oh, I don't know where he is, and then
runs back outside says, oh, no, I must have left
(06:39):
her in the car. The mom, because she's a doctor,
starts performing CPR. They call nine one one, and the
police and the ambulance arrive and they take this little girl.
Speaker 10 (06:48):
They're desperate to save her.
Speaker 9 (06:49):
They can take her to the hospital and that is
where she was pronounced dead.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
In Arizona in July, the temperatures as high as one
hundred and eight degrees outside to especial guests joining us.
In addition to Alexis Terresshut with Crime Online, Amber Rollins
is joining US Director of Kids in Cars Safety at
Kidsandcars dot Org.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Amber Rollins thank you for being with us.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
I've covered and investigated so many hot car deaths and
it's almost always a child. And there's no reason for
you to know this, Amber, But I observed when I
prosecuted and investigated crimes in intercity Atlanta. But when the
crime victim it's an infant or a child, very often,
(07:39):
very often, the case is plied down to involuntary or
voluntary manslaughter. If it were an adult or a teen
that had a voice of their own, things are much different.
But when it's a child, they're often treated like a
pet that it's not the same as an adult. The
(08:00):
suffering this little girl went through was agonizing.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Amber.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Could you explain what happens inside of a car when
it's one hundred and eight degrees outside of the car?
Speaker 11 (08:14):
Yeah, So a vehicle is essentially a greenhouse, so it
allows that solar energy to come in through the windows
and traps that heat inside. So the inside of the
vehicle heats up very quickly compete, you know, deathly temperatures
for a child within minutes, especially when it's somewhere one
hundred degrees outside.
Speaker 10 (08:32):
But it doesn't have to be that hot.
Speaker 11 (08:33):
Actually, we've documented cases even when this year where it
was in the sixties outside and a child died inside
of the vehicle.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
So if it's one hundred and eight degrees, which is
about as hot as that has gotten in Arizona in July,
that's the hottest. What would the tent be inside the car?
If it's one hundred and eight degrees outside the car.
Speaker 10 (08:54):
It would be very high.
Speaker 11 (08:55):
And it's really hard to say because there are so
many different factors that go into play.
Speaker 10 (09:00):
When this car was left, the air conditioning was on.
Speaker 11 (09:02):
We don't know exactly how long it was running. You know,
if the windows are tinted, the color of the vehicle,
what color of you know, is it pass falt or
cement makes a difference. Is there any shade covering the car?
You know, all of these things play a role. But
in those kind of temperatures, literally minutes would be deadly
for a child.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
To Alexis Restuk joining us.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
We have been researching it and speaking to experts on it,
experts like Amber Rollins from Kidsincars dot org, and we
have learned that if it's around one hundred and eight,
which is the hottest it's gotten in Arizona in July,
chimps inside a car. And we also know correct me
if I'm wrong, Alexis, because you also have been investigating
(09:44):
the case. She was sitting in direct sunlight. She was
not in a garage or a car port. The car
turned off, which is a whole nother issue about when
a car turns off when you leave it on and
you leave it even if you leave the electronic keyfob
(10:07):
in the car, the car will cut off.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
It will not keep going.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
This car, I understand, cuts off after about thirty minutes
generally speaking. But wasn't she in direct sunlight? Because what
we have learned, Alexis, is that at one hundred and
eight degrees outside, a car can get between one hundred
and thirty and one hundred and seventy two degrees.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
It's literally like being in an oven.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
I mean, haven't you seen pictures of people when it's
so hot they fry an egg on their car.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
That's what it's like to be inside the car.
Speaker 9 (10:41):
So the car in the driveway was actually facing west
so as the sun was because so originally actually Christopher,
the father said he came home at two thirty and
the mom came home at four, So at two thirty
in the afternoon, the car facing west, the sun is
no longer directly a hub ahead of you is coming
down and beaming straight into the car. And she was
(11:04):
in the backseat, so just directly on her. There was
no shade, It was not even a garage was in
the direct sideline.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
Interesting, he says. He got home around to thirty. Listen
to this.
Speaker 8 (11:15):
Arriving home from running errands, Christopher Schultz notices his two
year old daughter, Parker, is asleep in her car seat.
Rather than disturbing her by waking her up to go
inside the house, the PM the County Arizona father of
three decides to leave the toddler in the vehicle with
the air conditioner running. Schultz knows from previous experience with
his accurate MDX the air conditioner and vehicle will run
(11:35):
for about thirty minutes before shutting off automatically.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
Now that's something that can be proven at trial. Crime
Stories with Nancy Grace joining me again an all star panel,
but now out to high profile lawyering us out of
(12:00):
the Atlanta jurisdiction. Darryl Cohen, former felony prosecutor now defense attorney.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
Darryl Cohen.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
We saw in the Alex Murdog double murder trial. Murdog
went on trial for the shooting murders of his wife
Maggie and son Paul. His navigation system in his car
played a huge role. His nav system, Daryl Cohen navigation system,
(12:31):
and I think he was driving a suburban. If I
recall correctly, showed everything, Darryl. It was a defense attorney's
worst nightmare. It showed how he opened the door of
his car, his SUV, around the same exact time they
were shot getting in. It showed him It could show
(12:52):
when he turned the car on, and he turned the
air condition on, when he put it.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
In drive, when he slowed down, let the window down.
All this is on the nav system.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
You know, you put on your blinker or let your
window down, it shows up on your nav system.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
It's that sensitive where he's slowed down and oh what
co inch you think Maggie's.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
Phone was found right outside where he slowed down and
let his window down, let the window up, and sped off.
It showed how long he visited his mother and then
came back to the crime scene to find the dead bodies,
and showed all of that. So everything that this father
says in this case about leaving his daughter Parker in
(13:34):
the car can be destroyed or verified based on the
NAV system.
Speaker 12 (13:42):
So, Nancy, in the murderer case, I changed his name
to Lidall because that's what he was, the complete compelling wire.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
You're not really helping the defense right now.
Speaker 12 (13:53):
I am trying to help with the truth. There is
no defense to system. But there is a defense for
as him not realizing how long he left his child there,
him not realizing how long the car would run until
it automatically stopped due to the situation.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
How do you attack scientific evidence like an AV system.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
There's got to be a way. There is a way.
Speaker 6 (14:18):
The way I.
Speaker 12 (14:19):
Attack scientific evidence as I say, it is what it is.
But here is an explanation. Here's an explanation why the
scientific evidence doesn't show everything. The scientific evidence doesn't show
his intent. The scientific evidence doesn't show how long he
was actually out of the car. The scientific evidence doesn't
(14:41):
show whether or not he may or may not.
Speaker 6 (14:43):
Have come to check on her.
Speaker 12 (14:45):
Scientific evidence is good, but also there's real evidence, and
there's logic, and scientific evidence is normally real, but it
can be explained and mitigated from time to time.
Speaker 5 (14:58):
Murder charges against an Arizona dad who leaves his two
year old daughter to die inside the family car in
one hundred and nine degree heat.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
One hundred and.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
Nine degree heat, I thought it the highest in Arizona
was one hundred and eight. It's even hotter than I thought. Okay,
we're trying to make sense of what we are learning
right now, but this is what happens when mommy comes home.
Hold off, speaking of mommy, Alexis Tereschuk, did the dad work?
Speaker 10 (15:32):
I did not know if the dad worked.
Speaker 9 (15:34):
I believe that he She is a doctor, and I
believe that he took care of their children, because they
have three children.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
I was wondering, Alexis Terestchuk, if this is a Sam
Haskell the Fourth situation where you remember the son of
the famous Hollywood agent that represents Whoopi Goldberg and Dolly
Parton and so many others. His son, Sam Haskell the Fourth,
the one that was on video whining about his steak
(16:02):
being too well done at some fancy restaurant there in
La right. His wife, who he killed. He's about to
go on trial for that. Her torso was found in
a dumpster. Not similar in that manner, but she was
the one working and supporting the entire family while he
(16:24):
went and had steak rare steaks at lunchtime. But in
his case, he didn't even take care of the children.
Her parents had moved in to take care of the children.
It seems as if in this case, the dad is
taking care of the children. Of course, Parker is now
dead on his watch. But this is what happens when
(16:46):
mommy gets home.
Speaker 13 (16:48):
Arriving home a few minutes after four pm, doctor Erica
Schultz sees her five and nine year old daughters and
asked husband Chris, where is their two year old daughter, Parker.
Christopher Schultz first begins looking in the rooms of the house,
then darts outside, where he realizes he left Parker in
the Accura. The vehicle is off, the air conditioner is
not running, the outside temperature is over one hundred and
(17:10):
nine degrees, and Parker Schultz is taken out of the car, unresponsive,
strapped in her child restraint system.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
So mommy gets home from a long day working at
the hospital to question where is my daughter? She sees
her five and nine year olds, but she can't find
the baby.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
Well, this is what we learn happened.
Speaker 8 (17:34):
Arriving home from running errands. Christopher Schultz notices his two
year old daughter, Parker, is asleep in her car seat.
Rather than disturbing her by waking her up to go
inside the house, the Pima County, Arizona father of three
decides to leave the toddler in the vehicle with the
air conditioner running. Schultz knows from previous experience with his
accurate MDX the air conditioner and vehicle will run for
(17:54):
about thirty minutes before shutting off automatically.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
Joining me now is.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
A renowned medical examiner, the chief medical examiner in Terran County.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
That's Fort Worth, Texas. Never a lack of business there.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
Lecturer at the Burnett School of Medicine at TCU, doctor
Kimball Crowns, is joining us.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
Doctor Kimball Crowns.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
There are several ways to die, but dying in a
hot car is not one I would wish on anyone.
What happens during a hot car death?
Speaker 10 (18:28):
All right?
Speaker 1 (18:29):
So what you die?
Speaker 14 (18:30):
You die from hyperthermia or heat stroke. In babies especially,
they don't adjust to heat as well as adults. So
they add their body is actually heat up about three
to five times faster than an adult, so they're even
more exquisitely sensitive to heat changes. So what happens is,
initially you begin sweating, your blood vessels dilate or days
(18:55):
of dilation, as the blood is kind of pumped more
to your skin surface to try and cool your body off.
As you become hotter and hotter, you're sweating more, You're
you're shunting more of your blood to your skin surface,
so you have less blood circulating throughout your body. And
then eventually this results in your heart going beating faster,
(19:16):
you start becoming lightheaded, you start vomiting, becoming dizzy, and
then eventually you stop sweating because you have no more
fluid left, and then your body goes into organ failure.
Your heart and kidneys shut down, and you die. And
this happens over the course of minutes to thirty minutes.
Especially in a child in that hot of an environment,
(19:38):
they're not going to last very long.
Speaker 5 (19:40):
A toddler left in a car for over three hours
dies as Arizona summer temperatures soar to one hundred and
nine degrees.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
I learned a lot about this from a doctor that
actually got in a hot car and suffered to keep
people from leaving their pits in a car.
Speaker 7 (20:04):
Listen, I'm your pet, and I'm now in the car.
I've got all four windows cracked down about an inch.
So let's start a timer and let's see exactly how
hot it gets in here. It's one hundred and six
in here at ten minutes in, and I'm beginning to
wonder if this was a very bad idea. Indeed, I'm
at fifteen minutes now and it's about one hundred and
(20:28):
ten in my car. Twenty five minutes. It's now, oh gosh,
what is it? One hundred and thirteen degrees thirty minutes
in a parked car with a windows cracked. The temperature
right now is about one fifteen one sixteen, really hot.
(20:51):
The only thought that's going through my head right now
is I just I want out.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
Of the car.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
You know.
Speaker 7 (20:55):
It's just everything in my body is saying, get out,
get out, get out. I can just feel rivulets of
sweat just careening down my body.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
Doctor Kendall Crown is joining us. We're now Medical Examiner
out of Fort Worth. Chief medical Examiner, Doctor Kendall Crown's again,
thank you for being with us. I'm trying to understand
I heard your explanation earlier of what happens when a
person dies of hot card death. I understand the organs
start shutting down a little over when the body gets
(21:27):
to a little over one hundred degrees. Death occurs, of
course by one o seven one hundred and seven degrees.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
But what is heat stroke? Does the person? Does the
baby die of heat stroke? Whatever that is?
Speaker 2 (21:46):
Because it's got the word stroke in it, Why is
it heat stroke? Does your body respond to the heat
like it's having a stroke. And I'm trying to reconcile
that doctor Kenel Craws with what I know about. I
hate to say his name because it just the baby
(22:09):
we spoke of earlier.
Speaker 1 (22:10):
Whose.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
Back of his head was all scratched up and he
had been scratching at his neck.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
How does that fit in with your explanation?
Speaker 14 (22:26):
So as you become more and more hot, you can
become confused. People can start seizing, which would cause them
to maybe hit their head back. Also trying to get
out of the environment as well. You'll be clawing at
whatever is restricting you. Even a baby is going to
try and get out of there if they can, so
they'll be pulling at the seatbelt, etc. Or pounding their
(22:49):
head on something, So it can be a seizure, it
could be them trying to get out of the restraints.
Any of those could result in the injuries that you're describing.
As far as the heat stroke question, it's basically, as
your blood is being shunted to your skin surface to
try and cool you off, it's decreasing the amount of blood.
Speaker 6 (23:09):
You have and the rest of your body.
Speaker 14 (23:11):
So it's not unlike a stroke or even can cause
a heart attack because you don't get enough oxygenated blood
to your brain and your heart, which can cause them
to shut down. But it's really more from the volume
shift of the blood to the skin surface instead of
it going to the organs that results in heart failure
and kidney failure.
Speaker 1 (23:30):
How long would it take to die in hot car,
doctor Kindall Crowns.
Speaker 14 (23:34):
For an adult, it could be, you know, a lot
longer than for a kid. The kids are get hotter
about three to five times faster than an adult, So
I would say in that hot environment under an hour.
For an infant, probably under thirty minutes.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
You know, doctor Kindle Crowns. The other week was with
my son. We went to a basketball game where he
was playing and I was working, so he went ahead
in to warm up, and I sat in his truck
with cargo with it going. The truck was going and
continued to work, and I noticed it seemed like after
(24:13):
about twenty minutes that the car shut off, even though
I had the keyfob, that the truck shut off, even
though I had the keyfob. I thought, well, it's not
so hot in here, so I left it off and
I kept working. After about ten minutes with the car
with the truck off, it felt like I couldn't breathe.
(24:34):
I reached over and turned it back on and turned
on the air conditioned back on.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
But what is that sensation?
Speaker 2 (24:40):
I know that there was air in the cab of
the truck, but it felt like there wasn't any air.
Speaker 1 (24:47):
It was stifling.
Speaker 14 (24:48):
It's again, as your body is reacting to the heat,
your blood vessels are beginning to dilate, so the blood's
coming to your skin surface to try and cool you off,
and that's shipping bood volumes, making you you consciously feel
that there's something changed internally. It can make you feel
like you're not being able to breathe, or you'll start
(25:08):
getting a headache or getting dizzy. So any of that
reaction you're having is your body's compensating for that heat,
and that's making you feel uncomfortable. So as an adult,
you know, you'll turn the car back on, you'll get
out of the car, go somewhere cooler. But a kid
or a baby who's trapped in their restraining device of
a car seat can't move, so they're feeling all that too,
(25:30):
but they can't get out of that environment, and no
one's coming.
Speaker 6 (25:33):
To help them.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
So this is what we know of what the dad
in Parker's case said to investigators.
Speaker 1 (25:42):
Listen.
Speaker 13 (25:42):
Chris Schultz tells investigators he got home around two thirty PM,
and since his daughter was asleep in the car, he
decides to let the car run with the air conditioner
on rather than wake her up and take her inside.
Schultz says he got distracted putting away groceries and playing
video games. Schultz tells police he knows his I Create
MDX will run for around thirty minutes with the air
(26:03):
conditioner operating before automatically shutting off.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
Joining me high profile defense attorney out of the Atlanta jurisdiction,
Darryl Cohen. So why is he lying about the time
he got home? How do you explain that at trial,
Darryl Cohen?
Speaker 12 (26:19):
You explain it at trial, Nancy by saying.
Speaker 6 (26:22):
He wasn't lying. I am not lying. My client wasn't lying.
Speaker 12 (26:26):
He believed that he got home at the time that
he told everyone he did. The fact that the scientific
evidence disagrees makes him not telling the truth, but it
doesn't make him a liar. It doesn't also explain why
he didn't go out and check on his child. But
on the other hand, he knew the car was running,
(26:47):
he knew the air conditioning would be on for at
least thirty minutes, and in his mind, time just went
by very quickly. I'm not a video game player, but
as a game player, time just goes by more quickly
than you can believe.
Speaker 2 (27:03):
Okay, so the baby's in the car, He's got two
other little children, miners, all under.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
Ten, in the home, and he leaves the baby out there.
Speaker 2 (27:14):
And you're saying your defense would be time slips away.
Speaker 1 (27:20):
Is that what you just said, Absolutely, Nancy.
Speaker 6 (27:23):
I was busy. I was taking the groceries, I being
the defendant, the defendant was picking up the groceries. I'd stopped.
Speaker 12 (27:31):
I went and played a video game or two and
I didn't realize how much time had gone by because.
Speaker 6 (27:37):
I knew I did the right thing. I let her
sleep and I kept the car running.
Speaker 12 (27:43):
Oh my gosh. I love my daughter. I would never
have let something happen to her. It's just an innocent mistake.
Tournaments bad.
Speaker 5 (27:51):
He's an amazing father, a mummy defends dead in court
after he leaves their two year old daughter to die
a hot car.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
An amazing dad. Okay, I'm concerned.
Speaker 2 (28:04):
I get that the mom was begging the court for
dad to be released.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
Say he's an amazing dad. But wait, listen to this.
Speaker 4 (28:14):
Chris and Erica Schultz have two older daughters, ages nine
and five, and investigators conduct forensic interviews with them and
find out that their father, Chris Schultz, leaves all three
of them in the car alone regularly. It is the
children that tell investigators that during the time Parker was
left in the car, their father was distracted quote playing
(28:37):
his game and putting his food away.
Speaker 1 (28:39):
Playing his game. What you know what?
Speaker 2 (28:43):
Let me go to Karen Stark on this first ale
to stress track, Is that correct he was playing PlayStation
while the baby's out dying in the car.
Speaker 9 (28:50):
Yes, And the thing was he didn't con I didn't
say to the police, oh gosh, you know what, I
really did come home a tall thirty.
Speaker 10 (28:56):
The police investigated.
Speaker 9 (28:57):
They went door to door around this neighborhood and they
asked for video from people bring cameras or home security,
and that's when they saw him come in at one o'clock,
the full hour and a half, ninety minutes before he
said he came home, so they had to go to
the neighbors to find that out. He didn't offer anything,
and the children are the ones that said, well, yeah,
daddy leaves us alone all the time.
Speaker 10 (29:19):
And mommy sent him a text. The two of them
were texting.
Speaker 9 (29:23):
It's part of the police court records, and she's after
it happened, she said, what is going on?
Speaker 10 (29:28):
I told you to stop leaving him them in the car.
Speaker 9 (29:31):
How many times have I told you this? This is
obviously a pattern with him. She knew that this was
something that he did and she's asked to stop, and
he just couldn't be bothered.
Speaker 1 (29:48):
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
Karen started joining me renown psychologist, TV radio trauma expert
at karenstart dot com. Karen, did you say earlier forgotten
baby syndrome.
Speaker 1 (30:04):
Yes, I did.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
Oh no, are you what is this some kind of
a defense that he had a syndrome where he has
some medical condition where he forgets the baby?
Speaker 1 (30:15):
No, no, no, not manly, you just did. Do you
know what you just did? You opened Pandora's box?
Speaker 2 (30:24):
Are you familiar with Roman and or Greek mythology where
the Pandora's box is opened and all the evils of
the universe come out and they haunt and taunt and
destroy mankind from then on. You've just probably handed over
a defense straight to defense attorneys all over the country.
(30:47):
Forgotten baby syndrome. Oh, that's what happened. Don't blame him.
It was forgotten baby syndrome. It's not an excuse, Nancy.
It's something that happens. But it doesn't mean that it's acceptable.
Speaker 15 (31:00):
Well, especially in this case, it's not acceptable because he
had been warned. It's not like it never happened before
he was told, don't leave them in the car.
Speaker 1 (31:12):
What is it? What's forgotten baby syndrome.
Speaker 15 (31:15):
It's a syndrome that happens to parents when they happen
to be used to doing a certain routine. They always
drop the baby off. They always go to work and
something changes in the routine and they keep going on
automatic pilots straight to what they normally do, and they.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
Actually forget the baby.
Speaker 15 (31:37):
And it's not excusable, but it does happen, and they
love their child, and the brain keeps going into what
they're used to doing. It doesn't apply in this case
because this man was not going to work, he was
not dropping off his child, and forgetting that he didn't
(31:58):
drop off the child. In this case, he was home
with three children. He was putting away groceries and playing games,
so there was no reason for him to forget that
his child was in the car. He just got abdarped
and the fun that he was having playing the game.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
And I'm just trying to figure out is there some.
Speaker 2 (32:20):
Type of an addiction to playing games or is this
some type of a release where you've been working all day?
Because I find myself listening to a book on tape,
or researching for crime stories, just all sorts of things,
and while I'm doing that, I'm not thinking about other matters.
(32:44):
But I don't do it research work while I'm taking
care of minor children.
Speaker 1 (32:52):
So is that some kind of a mind release playing
the games?
Speaker 15 (32:56):
Is, but it doesn't make sense to be doing that
when you you are responsible for children. When you're responsible
for children, that is the first thing that should be
in your mind.
Speaker 1 (33:06):
That was his job. His job was to take care
of these three children.
Speaker 15 (33:11):
And he is an I hate to say, but this
is the truth. He's an unfit parent. It's a use
when you are not paying attention to the three children
you have well.
Speaker 1 (33:22):
And there's more to it than that.
Speaker 2 (33:24):
There's more to it than just forgetting Amber Rollins is
joining a special guest. She is the director of Kids
in Car Safety at Kidsandcars dot org. Amber, you were
telling us about an app that you put on your
phone that you hook up to your car. I write
(33:45):
about something similar in my book Don't Be a Victim
Where there are censors now that when you get out
of your car, if something sitting on a back seat,
it makes an alarm that should remind you, like the
day ding ding ding when you don't put on your
seat belt, ding ding ding, you're leaving a child in
the back stat But tell me about that app you're describing.
Speaker 11 (34:08):
So one thing that hasn't been reported about this case
in any of the news articles, except for one that
I've read is that the father knew that it had
this shut off, but he got a notification on his
phone through the app that the car was shutting off,
and he reported that on that day he did not
(34:28):
get that reminder. And I just want to challenge this
mindset that this father wasn't fit to be a parent.
Speaker 10 (34:39):
We don't have all the facts yet.
Speaker 11 (34:41):
They haven't released all of the facts in this case,
so we're working with what has been released right now.
But this isn't unlike other cases that we've documented in
our Safety has been tracking this issue for thirty years.
I have read in gruesome detail each and every single
one of those cases. There are other cases you're similar
(35:02):
to this, where a well intentioned parent came home, left
a sleeping child in the car, went inside, unloaded groceries,
you know, got into a routine, much like these parents
who were in a routine on autopilot mode driving from
home to work. You know, I'm not descending this father,
but I'm also not condemning him because we just don't
know what his intentions were.
Speaker 16 (35:24):
I'm just asking if you can allow him to come
home to us so we can all start the grieving process,
so that he can bury our daughter with us this
upcoming week and that we can go through this process
together as a family. This was a big mistake, and
I think that this doesn't represent him, and I just
(35:44):
want the girls to see their father so that I don't.
Speaker 10 (35:47):
Have to tell them tonight that they're going to endure
another loss.
Speaker 2 (35:49):
You are hearing doctor Erica Schultz. That's Christopher Schultz's wife,
the mother of baby Parker. That was from our friends at.
Speaker 1 (35:56):
KVOA TV.
Speaker 2 (36:00):
In court begging the court to allow her husband to
come home.
Speaker 1 (36:06):
The family so distraught.
Speaker 2 (36:08):
And I agree partially with what Amber Rollins was saying
the director at Kidsincars dot org that you can have
a very well intentioned parent that leaves a child in
the car. Does that make the child's death any less painful?
Does that somehow bring the child back to life? No,
(36:31):
one may immediately regret the deed, but that does not
negate the intent or frame of mind at the time
of the incident. And I am reciting to you verbatim
the black and white letter of the law. Remember, one
may immediately regret the deed, that does not change the
(36:53):
facts at the time of the incident.
Speaker 1 (36:56):
You may not like it, you might feel.
Speaker 2 (36:57):
Sorry for the dad and the mom in a way
I do, but my responsibility and has always been, is
to the crime victim. The child is dead, she suffered
a horrible death.
Speaker 1 (37:14):
Did he mean to do it? Of course not.
Speaker 2 (37:16):
I don't think there's any scenario in which he meant
for his child to die.
Speaker 1 (37:22):
This is akin to.
Speaker 2 (37:24):
Driving a car at ninety mph through let's just say
a street market and four or five people getting mowed
down dead. You didn't mean to you didn't even know them.
But it is an abandoned, malignant heart, as it is
called in the law, a disregard for human life. And
(37:45):
it's not the first time.
Speaker 4 (37:46):
Listen in a sweltering Hollywood, Florida Walmart parking lot on
Sunday afternoon, a five year old child is screaming from
the slightly cracked window in a hot car.
Speaker 1 (37:57):
Mommy leaves her child.
Speaker 4 (37:58):
Inside the audy with no ac while she shops inside.
CCTV shows thirty four year old Anastasia Multilava shopping while
her child's trapped in the car. She's arrested and facing
charges of felony child neglect.
Speaker 2 (38:14):
That child lived, You were hearing Nicole Parton from Crime
Online dot com and of course, West Memphis listen.
Speaker 8 (38:24):
West Memphis, Tennessee. Employees of a cent Children's Health Services
failed to do the most basic part of their job,
count children in and out of the van and taking
roll call inside. Four employees claim they did their job
the day, five year old Christopher Gardner is left in
a van all day, strapped into a booster seat for
eight hours. The todd was marked present in class while
(38:46):
he was actually trapped in the van trying to take
off his clothes to cool down. When a worker went
to the van to take the children home, five year
old Christopher was found dead.
Speaker 2 (38:55):
And there you have daycare workers, and they made the mistake,
the fatal mistake of leaving a child strapped in a
hot car. Intentions do they matter? What we know is
that this child suffered a horrible death. We know that
(39:16):
the mother, a well known doctor in the area, begged
for the husband to be let out of jail and
not stay behind bars. Alexis Teresschuk was her request granted?
Speaker 4 (39:28):
It was?
Speaker 7 (39:28):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (39:28):
The judge did grant that everyone hot car deaths happen.
If you have questions, dial one eight hundred four two
two four four five three. If you really care about
your minor children. Look into the app that would save
your child from a hot car death that we were
(39:50):
hearing about from our guest, Amber Rawlins. Go to kidsincars
dot org and save your child. Pass it on as
temperatures increase outside. We can stop the deaths of children
all across our country. Nancy Grace signing off, goodbye friend.
Host
Nancy Grace
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