Father of toddler who died in hot vehicle in Arizona arrested

A father of a two-year-old girl in the US state of Arizona who was pronounced dead after being found unresponsive in a hot vehicle has been arrested, American media reported on Saturday (July 13). According to the Marana Police Department,37-year-old Christopher Scholtes (the father of the girl)was arrested and now faces a second-degree murder charge.

According to a report by ABC News, the girl was in the car for about three hours on Tuesday. During the initial investigation, Scholtes told the police that he left the vehicle running, and the air conditioning onwhile parking it in the driveway of the houseto avoid waking his daughter.

After he went inside, his wife arrived homeand found her daughterunresponsive inside the vehicle, which was no longer running, and the air conditioning was turned off, the police said. It's not yet known how the car shut down.

CPR performed on toddler but she died

A report by People said that the mother performed CPR on her daughter until emergency personnel arrivedand performed additional life-saving measures. The toddlerwas then transported to Banner University Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.

After obtaining a search warrant and accessingsurveillance from nearby residences, the police learned that the two-year-old had been in the vehicle for approximately three hours, leading to her father's arrest.

A reminder to parents

In a statement, the Marana Police Department said that this incident wasa stark reminder of the dangers of leaving children unattended in vehicles. "The temperature inside a vehicle can rise rapidly, even on relatively mild days, leading to potentially fatal outcomes within minutes," the statement said.

The department urged all parentsand caregivers to remain vigilant and take every precaution to ensure the safety of their children.

(With inputs from agencies)