Dad Was Watching Porn While Daughter Roasted to Death in Hot Car: Police

Let's come out here Christopher. It's okay. No. Okay. No. Listen. No. Listen. Okay. We've seen that moment before. Christopher Shultis realizing what can't. be undone. The Arizona father accused of. leaving his 2-year-old daughter Parker. in a hot car on a 109-degree. day leading to her tragic death. This is. a story that has unfortunately become. all too familiar. But what investigators. say Shultis was doing while Parker was. trapped inside, that is what makes this.

case so hard to comprehend. And now a. judge has ruled whether the jury will. ever hear that. And we're going to break. it down with an Arizona attorney. Welcome to Sidebar presented by Law &. Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. [Music]. Hey everybody real quick. This is. another Law & Crime Legal Alert. There. are allegations right now claiming that. online apps like DraftKings, ESPN Bet, BetMGM, Bet365, Fanatics Sportsbook, Caesar's Sportsbook, that they are.

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visit gamblingsuits.com/sidebar. to take a short quiz and check your. eligibility to file a claim. This story. just screams one word. Preventable. A mistake, if that's what. it was, if that's what we're dealing. with, no parent would ever want to make. this mistake. You have a father in. Arizona facing first-degree murder and. child abuse charges after his 2-year-old. daughter died in a hot car. You've heard. about these cases before, but I will. tell you this one, the allegations,

Christopher Shultis, he's accused of. playing video games after leaving his. daughter in a hot car and then. forgetting that she was there. The. temperature that day inside the car. reportedly 109 degrees. I haven't even. mentioned what else investigators say he. may have been doing at that time. We. will get to that. But the body cam. footage shows the moment that police. arrived and you can hear the fear, the. confusion in this guy's voice as he. realizes what has happened. Anything?

Anything? I I she's she's dead. Like I need to be. with her right now. Oh my god, I know. No. Now, to be clear, it's not as if. investigators and authorities and. prosecutors are saying he intended for. this to happen. But clearly, they are. saying he's criminally responsible. And. here's the twist. This apparently isn't the first time.

investigators say Shultis left a child. unattended in a car. And we're going to. get to that, too. But right now, as Shultis's case moves towards trial, a. recent judge's ruling has shaped what. jurors can and cannot hear about that. day. And that is really really. important. That's what we're going to. talk about because just wait until we. get to what investigators believe. Shultis was allegedly doing while his. child was trapped in that hot car and. whether the jury will ever hear about. it. We'll talk about it. But first, let.

me lay out exactly what this case is. about from start to finish so you can. really understand what we're dealing. with. On July 9th, 2024, Christopher. Shultis, father of three out in Arizona, returned home from running errands with. his 2-year-old daughter Parker strapped. into her car seat in the back of the. family car. Now, Shultis initially told. police that he left Parker in the car, that she was sleeping, didn't want to. wake her, and you can hear that for. yourself. We went to go. uh.

Stop the car and then tell me what you. did. We just came home. My daughters. were at Elevate with uh my friend next. door. They got home about. uh 2. 45 or so. And then. um. I've just been. hanging out at home. She was sleeping in. the car and I had the car on. Um but it has a sensor where every 30.

minutes or so it'll turn off if no one. moved. Um. I swore she was in the house with her. sisters like she always does. I've just been. Right now I haven't. been doing anything else really in the. house. And. What time.

there is anywhere, but I'm at home, right? Like you're you're you're home, you're safe, you're like your kids are. home. Now, the car was apparently. running with the air conditioning on, but Shultis assumed that it would. automatically shut off after about 30. minutes like it had before. The problem was he allegedly never went. back to get Parker. And police say she. remained inside of that car, 109. degrees, right? Over 3 hours. That was until, according to the. complaint, that Shultis's wife, Erica, came home from work at around 4:00 p.m.

She asked where Parker was, and that is. when this husband, this father, apparently realized that he had left his. daughter in the car. So, he runs to the. vehicle and finds her lifeless body. still strapped into the car seat. Blistering 109 degrees, the car parked. in direct sunlight, the driver's side. window facing west. Nearby security. footage backs up showing Shultis's car. arriving at 12:53 p.m. Just after his. other two children got home, he's seen.

walking to the front door alone, apparently no sign that he checked on. Parker during the next 3 hours. That's. based on the reporting. And his wife's. car apparently arrives at 4:08 p.m. and. then the 911 call follows 8 minutes. later. By the way, here's a snippet from. that call. Thank you. And what are you. reporting? She was in the car sleeping. She's. unresponsive. Okay. And who is she? >> Please please please. My daughter. My daughter.

Please please please. And this was out in the driveway? Yes. Is she still breathing? No, she's not breathing right now. Okay, we need to start CPR right now. Yes, we. are. We're starting CPR. Yes. Oh my god. Oh my god. Okay, is she breathing yet? This is my. baby. How long has it been? 3 hours. It was, but it turned off.

I've been checking. Oh my god. Okay, is she breathing yet? Is she breathing? No. No. So, Shultis told police that he left. Parker in the car while he put away. groceries thinking that she would remain. asleep. But the text messages, and this. is key, the text messages between him. and his wife, this led investigators to. believe that this maybe wasn't a. one-time oversight, okay? Because. according to the complaint, text. messages between Shultis and his wife as.

Parker was being rushed to the hospital, they show a lot. They apparently read, quote, his wife saying, Erica, I told. you to stop leaving them in the car. How. many times have I told you? With Shultis. apparently responding, Babe, I'm sorry. His wife saying, We've lost her. She was. perfect. Shultis replying, Babe, our. family, how could I do this? I killed. our baby. This can't be real. Now, I got to talk about this. Forensic interviews with his other kids,

they have provided even more insight. into past allegations. And we will get. to that and whether or not it will play. a role in this case. But the body cam. footage from the scene, this shows the absolute devastation in. real time. J- just to let you know, I don't I don't. want to feel like we're intruding, but. we're going to have to stand by with you. for a while. All right. Um Is there a reason why? So, any any death, we have to treat like. a crime scene.

I. can't say anything. I I know this is extremely difficult for. you. Um this is a normal process that that we. have to follow through with. I don't. want you to be blindsided by any. cameras, but that's that's what's going to be. going on for right now, okay? So, I'm. being treated like a murderer? No. I. just lost my baby. Not at all. I know. that. And I know this isn't easy for you. That's That's why I'm trying to be. straightforward and honest with you, okay? I don't want to keep any secrets.

I don't want to hide anything for you. Someone's going to talk to you about. what happened, though. All right? [Music]. W- We will keep you updated with. everything. My whole family like my whole family's. going to be ruined. Will it be all right? So, we we can't let you do that right. now. We have to stand by with you, okay? As soon as you can, we will let you.

know. I know this isn't easy for you, but the. quicker we get this done and finished. up, the sooner you can be with your wife. All right? I'm trying I'm trying to get. this off so I can go to the hospital to. be with my wife. We're not going to. shower or anything right now. You need. to stand by with us. >> I don't understand why. >> Okay. And let me just say, aside from. criminal charges, this is a family. that's destroyed, okay? I The grief is. there. It's palpable. It's. understandable. This is a tragedy. They'll never be the same.

But you talk about the medical response. No matter what they tried to do, they. couldn't save Parker. Now, she was. transported to Banner University Medical. Center. She was pronounced dead. Schultis reportedly, by the way, refused. to plead guilty to second-degree murder. And now he faces first-degree murder. So, he reportedly turned down that deal. I want to talk about that, too. And. here's the issue. Aside from the fact of. the video games, right? Court filings. alleged that Schultis was distracted. playing video games. And by the way, investigators say he was doing something.

else, which we will talk about. But they. also claim he was drinking beer. And. this is all while Parker suffered from. that heat exposure. Now, Schultis's case. is finally approaching trial. So, I want. to get into the latest in this story, the legal issues, and by the way, this. decision from the judge on what the jury. can and cannot hear. And I think it's. really, really significant. So, I want. to bring on a criminal defense attorney. and former federal and state prosecutor. Kurt Altman. Kurt, thanks so much for. coming back here on Sidebar. I. appreciate it.

Hey Jesse, thanks for having me. My. pleasure. Now, this is a heartbreaking. case. It is a disturbing case. It is a. situation, unfortunately, you know, putting aside guilt here or. not guilty, you know, shouldn't have happened. We. cover a lot of these cases, unfortunately. From a legal standpoint, let's start here. When you see this. distinction between first-degree murder. and second-degree murder or manslaughter. in Arizona, particularly when you're. dealing with a hot car death, what. should we be thinking about? Well, I.

mean, really it comes down to what the. prosecution has to prove and the. ultimate penalty. This is first-degree. murder because it's a felony murder. charge, meaning. child They're alleging that child abuse. was committed. And during that child. abuse, by leaving the child in the car, the child died. That makes it, under. Arizona law, first-degree murder. And. that's what the prosecution is alleging. As opposed to second-degree murder, which they would have to show some sort. of intent. And in this case it would be. some sort of reckless indifference under.

the law. That's the standard under the. law to show that. But here, if they. prove child abuse, it's first-degree. murder. But it's not necessarily saying. he wanted his daughter dead. It's that. he was incredibly careless and reckless. and disregarded the. clearly the clear inherent danger of. leaving a child in the car. I mean, essentially, not only is it his. fault, but he's criminally responsible. But it's not saying that he planned this. and premeditated on this and wanted his. his daughter dead, right? That's exactly.

right. It's not the first-degree murder. that we see in movies, where someone. plans a murder, goes out, hires a. hitman, or sits up, you know, behind the. bushes and waits for someone. This is a. death that resulted during a very, very. reckless and careless conduct taking. care of that child. Because the child. died from that reckless and careless. conduct, that makes it first-degree. murder. So, it's different in that way. But the penalty is a first-degree murder. penalty. Life in prison. Right. Okay, so. here here's where things stand, and I.

want to get your perspective on this. And this new development, some would. say, you know, pretty shocking. So, according to newly released court. filings that were reviewed by People. magazine, prosecutors say that Schultis. wasn't just distracted by video games. the day that Parker died. They say he. also searched for pornography on his. PlayStation while his daughter was. locked in that 109° heated car. But. guess what? Jurors, they're not going to. hear that. No, a Pima County judge ruled.

on October 14th that prosecutors can't. tell the jury about those alleged porn. searches. Judge Kimberly Ortiz said the. state is {quote} "precluded from. eliciting testimony in its case in chief. regarding the defendant looking for. pornography on the PlayStation before. his daughter's body is discovered. And. that no witnesses can mention an alleged. 2-minute search for pornography on the. PlayStation that happened on July 9th, 2024." Kurt, why? Why why is this not.

being allowed? Well, there's it's so prejudicial. That's the. layman's terms, right? It's going to be. If that evidence came out, it would be. so bad for the defendant that. the court's saying the jury won't pay. attention to anything else. They'll. convict him just because of that. It. it's it's unduly prejudicial compared to. its probative value under the legal. words, right? That means, "Hey, it's. relevant, but it's so minimally relevant. compared to how bad it's going to look. for the defendant that the jury.

wouldn't wouldn't do their job and. evaluate the evidence correctly. So, it's not going to come in.". That doesn't mean that other evidence. about what he did not going to come in. That doesn't mean that he that he was. playing on his PlayStation and doing. things like that to ignore the child. That's all going to come in. They just. can't say that during those 2 minutes he. was looking for pornography. What's. important is the court's ruling said, "In their case in chief." So, that means.

the prosecution can't present it in. their case. But if the defendant or the defense, during their case, were to open the. door, as we say in the law, somehow. allow. or allude to something he was doing at. that time or somehow say. that he wasn't doing certain things, they may open the door and the. prosecution may be able to use that. evidence when they rebut his case. But as it stands now, the jury's not. going to hear that. I I I get it. I. totally get it. But at the same time,

isn't it relevant to determine what he. was doing, what was allegedly more. important to him than checking on his. child? You know, it'd be one thing it. feels in a way like the prosecutor's. hands are tied, right? I mean, how can. they explain what he was doing? Because. then the jury could say, "Well, maybe he. was distracted with something else. Maybe he was distracted with something. more important. Maybe the you know, I I. I guess is it just Let's focus on the. video games? Are video games different. than pornography? I don't know.".

Yeah, I mean, I'm sure the court. evaluated the fact that the the. prosecution is going to be getting be. able to get into evidence of his. playing video games and being on his. PlayStation and things like that. And. the court probably tried to balance that. and went, "Man, that's going to be. enough. That's going to be enough for. the jury. They don't have to get into. this pornography because it was just a. 2-minute search. And if they do, the. jury's just going to tune everything. else out because it's so so. prejudicial." Now, if I'm the.

prosecutor, and I've been in these. situations way back in the day, where. I'm like, "Judge, every piece of evidence I present. against the defendant is intended to be. prejudicial. That's why I present the. evidence. It's going to look bad for the. defendant. That's why I want to get it. in. But the judge, under the rules of. evidence, balanced balanced that out and. said, 'You have enough other evidence. This is so bad, not going to let it. happen.'" Well, talk about bad evidence. So, that part, those details may be. off-limits for trial as of now. But. there are other details that appear to.

be fair game. Now, KGUN9 reports that. prosecutors can bring up earlier. incidents where Schultis allegedly left. his kids in the car. And by the way, remember those text messages between. Schultis and his wife sent while. paramedics were rushing Parker to the. hospital? Those are being allowed in. court, too. That's a big win for. prosecutors there, right, Kurt? Oh, yeah, that is a big win. That's. called prior bad act evidence or prior. act evidence is what we call it now. under a rule called 404b. And that's. very difficult, and there's a very. strict analysis that a court has to do.

to allow that type of evidence in. because, again, that evidence is so. prejudicial to a defendant. And it's. really not about the facts of this case. But the court must have I haven't read. the ruling, but the court must have. said, "Hey, this shows a pattern of. previous conduct enough to show lack of. uh lack of care. enough that I think it's. relevant enough to come in even though. it's going to be highly prejudicial to.

the to the. defendant. So, I think they kind of. balanced the court kind of balanced. stuff out there. How does he defend. against that? Does he say, "Hey, listen, yeah, I was told this at other times" or. you know, I think it establishes that, you know, my panic in the moment, these. are what these messages are about. How. does the defense combat against that if. it's coming in? Yeah, that's going to be difficult. You. know, I think I think the defense is. going to want to focus, "Hey, those are. previous incidents, ladies and gentlemen.

of the jury. The The prosecution's. wanting you to look at that stuff. because they don't want you to look at. the evidence of what happened on that. day. They're trying to distract you. They're trying to prejudice you against. my client. I want you to forget about. that stuff because it doesn't matter to. what happened on the day. that his child tragically died in the. car. Let's look at the facts of today.". But I mean, it's going to be tough. I. mean, people are people, right? When you. hear, as a juror who doesn't sit through stuff. like this every day, "My gosh, he's done.

this before and he did it again." That's. going to be tough to overcome. Yeah, and. so that ruling from the judge letting. jurors hear about these alleged previous. times that Schultis left his kids in the. car, that is significant because. investigators had apparently already. documented those claims. The day after. Parker died, investigators detectives. apparently interviewed his two older. sisters. And per an incident report from. July 26th, 2024, one of them told. investigators, {quote} "Her dad has. accidentally left Parker in the car, and.

then her mom had tried to do CPR, but. she didn't know that she was already. dead." And now the little girl said that. her parents told her to tell police. this was an accident. And the same. interview shows how often this allegedly. happened. According to the report, the. girl also said her dad had left her and. her siblings in the car 59 times, and. said he had also left her in the car. sleeping when she was a little baby. And. maybe the most shocking is when she said. this, quote, "Usually her mom will get. mad at her dad when he does something.

he's not supposed to do like drink too. much beer. He still drinks too much beer. and he keeps leaving us in the car when. my mom told him stop doing that. That's. how he made my baby sister die." Now, Kurt, bunch of questions here. Are these. children going to testify and is this. kind of evidence going to be allowed in? In Arizona, a child can testify if a. court finds that they're competent. If. they know the difference between right. and wrong, the difference between the. truth and a lie, they can testify. Uh.

so, certainly the prosecution has that. option. Uh certainly that's going to be. a difficult decision to make for the. prosecution because you don't want a. child to testify necessarily. You. certainly don't want a sibling to. testify in a case like this if that's. at all possible. But, I'm certain the. prosecution's going to want that. evidence in and want those statements. in. If they can't find another way to. get those statements in through maybe. the interviewer. uh because we have hearsay rules that.

don't let certain statements in unless. the person that made them testifies to. it. If the prosecution cannot figure out. another way to get those statements in. which are very damning to the defendant, uh the the child very well may be a. witness on the witness stand. I I had a. a child witness when I was prosecuting a. long time ago. One of the most horrible. experiences ever. So, I'm sure the. prosecution is going to do their best. not to have that person testify. Yeah. Now, something else I wanted your. perspective on is that back in March it.

was reported prosecutors had offered him. a plea deal. So, he would have pled. guilty to a reduced charge to. second-degree murder. If he had taken. it, he would have faced 10 to 25 years. in prison, okay? Long time. But now, with first degree on the table, he could. be facing life. Apparently turned it. down. Take a listen. Uh Mr. Shultis, do. you feel comfortable reading and writing. in English? All right, you've been able to. understand the court proceedings? Yes. And have you had any drugs, alcohol, or. medication in the past 24 hours?

Do you feel like you're thinking clearly. today? Yes. Um. and you've had the opportunity to. consult with your attorney concerning a. plea agreement? If you had questions about the plea. agreement, were they answered to your. satisfaction? Yes. Uh do you understand that the state does. not have to offer you this plea again. after today? Yes. Um. the exposure that uh that the attorneys. agree on is that if you were convicted. at trial, you would face. um a possible natural life sentence on.

that count one. um and for the count two, dangerous. crimes against children, the sentencing. range would be between 10 and 24 years, but the presumptive sentence is 17. years. Both of those would be flat time. sentences. Do you have any questions. about that exposure at trial if you do. go to trial and if you were convicted? No. Okay. The plea offer that has been. extended to you is a second-degree. murder which would be an amended count. one. The uh sentencing range exposure is 10.

to 25 years. What What is the. presumptive, Mr. Patterson, sorry? 16. 16. The presumptive is 16 years. Uh that. would also be a flat time sentence. Do. you understand that that is a plea. offer? Okay. And that um. there's a a maximum statutory fine of. $150,000. or can be up to 83% surcharge as well.

Um. there is also a requirement that the. court order community supervision upon a. completion of a prison sentence. Are there any other offered terms that. the court's overlooked? No, your honor. Mr. Derek? I don't believe so, your. Okay. Um Mr. Shultis, are you being threatened. in any way to reject this plea. agreement? Has anybody promised you anything. outside of this courtroom or the plea. agreement to. um compel you or. force you to reject the plea agreement?

Or this is your decision? Okay. Um and understanding the consequences. and risks of going to trial, uh do you want to reject the state's. plea offer to second-degree murder? Yes. All right, the court does find that Mr. Shultis is knowingly, voluntarily, and. intelligently rejecting the plea. agreement. Kurt, how common is that for. defendants to reject a a plea like that. in a case this serious where there might. be really, really bad evidence and. limited defense? Did Does this make. sense to you? Is it common?

Well, I mean, every defendant's a little. bit different. This is somebody that I. don't believe really has any significant. criminal history. So, they're not. professional criminals, so to speak. Uh. and he probably heard 10 to 25 years and. that's likely flat time in this uh. situation, meaning day for day. You're. not going to do 85%. If you get 10. years, you're going to do 10 years. And probably said something along the. lines, because I've had clients say. this, "I mean, what's the difference between. 15 years and life?".

Uh which is kind of their mindset. sometimes. Well, the difference between. 15 years and life is. depends how long you live, right? So, uh. it's not uncommon to see something like. this. Maybe. they the defense thinks that they can. beat the first-degree murder, that this. was such a tragic accident that no. jury's going to convict him of. first-degree murder when they know uh. the serious ramifications of that. So, they're banking on that, but man, it is. risky. It is risky. Get out in 10 to 15,

20 years or spend the rest of your life. in prison uh when the evidence seems to. be piling up against them. Yeah, right now he remains behind bars. awaiting trial. Uh jury selection set to. begin later this month. If he's. convicted, could face life in prison. Do. you think this will come down to him. taking the stand and explaining what. happened? I think he has to testify. I. had to think about that for a minute, but um. you know, most of the time as a defense lawyer, you never want your client to testify. It's not helpful, generally very um bad.

to do. But in a case like this, I think. the jury's going to want to hear from. him. I think the defense is going to. believe the jury has to hear from him. Explain what his conduct was. Maybe. explain about those other incidents. Um. explain how he learned and why this. one's different and why it's not. first-degree murder. I think the defense is going to want him. to try to build some sort of rapport. with that jury so they don't convict him. of first-degree murder. I don't see him. getting acquitted across the line on all.

charges in this. I just don't see a jury. doing that. But, I can see a jury going, "Man, this wasn't murder. This was the. dumbest thing I've ever seen, but not. murder." So, we'll see. I think he's. going to testify. Kurt Altman, thanks for taking the time. Appreciate it. Thank you, Jesse. And. that's all we have for you right now. here on Sidebar, everybody. Thank you so. much for joining us and as always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple. Podcast, Spotify, wherever you should. get your podcast. You can follow me on X. or Instagram. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll see. you next time.

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