Hot Car Dad Slammed with Horrifying Lawsuit Before Shocking Death

I I She's She's dead. Like, I need to be. with her right now. Oh my god, my no. No. There really seems to be no end to the. heartbreak and pain of this story. Arizona dad Christopher Shelters was. supposed to start a 20 to 30-year prison. sentence for killing his 2-year-old. daughter Parker by leaving her in a hot. car in the blazing Arizona summer heat. Instead, he was found dead in the home. that he shared with his wife. And now we. have learned just days before he was.

going to report to prison, another of. his children filed a lawsuit against him. exposing even more alleged family. secrets. We are taking a closer look at. this brand new lawsuit and what this. means. Welcome to Sidebar presented by. Law & Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. [Music]. I can't talk a lawsuit like this. I. can't talk major litigation like this. without mentioning experts in the field, our sponsor Morgan & Morgan. Why?

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You can click the link below or you can. scan the QR code on screen. She was sleeping in the car and I had. the car on. Um but it has a sensor where if it reach. 30 minutes or so, it'll turn off if I. haven't moved. Um. I swore she was in the house playing. with her sisters like she always does. In July 2024, Christopher Shelters left. his car running in his driveway in. Marana, Arizona with his 2-year-old.

daughter Parker asleep in her car seat. inside. He would tell police that the. car would automatically shut off after. 30 minutes if it hadn't moved, but he. only planned to leave her there for a. few minutes so he didn't have to wake. her right then. He then allegedly forgot. about her while he played video games. and watched porn. This is according to. prosecutors. By the time his wife Erica, a doctor, returned home from work, Parker had been. in that car for hours, temperatures. rising to 109 degrees, and she. ultimately died.

And this apparently wasn't the first. time that Shelters had forgotten about. one of his children. The complaint filed. against him said, quote, Christopher. received text messages from his wife. while the 2-year-old was being. transported to the hospital stating, "I. told you to stop leaving them in the. car. How many times have I told you?" He. responded, "Babe, I'm sorry." She said, "We've lost her. She was perfect." He. responds, "Babe, our family, how could I. do this? I killed our baby. This can't. be real." Now, Shelters was indicted on. first-degree murder and child abuse.

charges. originally rejected a plea deal. that was offered up by the Pima County. Attorney's Office, but then as the trial. date got closer, he apparently changed. his mind agreeing to plead guilty to. second-degree murder and child abuse. But then we go to November 5th and there. was this shocking news. We expected to. be in court this morning because the. father had accepted a plea agreement to. second-degree murder which could have. carried as much as 30 years in prison.

But instead of coming in to take account. for what has occurred here, we have been informed and we have. confirmed. that the father took his own life last. night. And in yet another twist, we have. learned that in the days before. Christopher Shelters ended his life, another one of his children filed a. lawsuit against him accusing him of. everything from battery to sexual abuse.

That is what we want to get into as. we're still trying to learn more about. this man, his life, the accusations, his. choices, how it led to the death of his. baby. What is the background here? All. right. So, to talk about this latest. legal maneuvering, what we should make. of all this, I want to welcome Arizona. trial attorney Dwayne Cates. Dwayne, thanks so much for taking the time. I. really appreciate it. Before you even. get into the complaint here, I mean, we. were shocked shocked by the news of what. happened to Christopher Shelters. I. mean, on the eve of what had happened.

with his criminal case, what was your reaction to that? Well, it it's not unheard of. I mean, again, like I said previously, that you know, normally when you're going to be doing a. long prison sentence, at the change of. plea, they take you into custody because. of for this very reason, because people. skip, they kill themselves, all kinds of. crazy things happen. So, they usually. take them into custody. In this case, they didn't. And so, you know, we're. living with the aftermath. Okay. So,

this lawsuit was filed in Maricopa. County Superior Court on October 28th by. Shelters' biological daughter. By the. way, she's still a minor right now. So, we won't be identifying her. She turns. 18 apparently later this month. But this. action is being brought by Lindsey. Eisenberg. She is acting as her quote. next friend, apparently a person filing. on behalf of somebody else. So, the. lawsuit names Christopher Shelters and. his wife Erica as defendants. And when. talking about Erica, she seemingly. showed support for her husband during.

this very turbulent court case, even. speaking out in court on his behalf. Take a listen. Um I just wanted to say that no one. understands how great of a tragedy this. is more than myself, my girls, my. remaining two daughters, and. Christopher. So, not only do we have to move forward. with grieving for my daughter, but we. potentially could be losing our her. their father. So, the absolute worst-case scenario for. our family is if Chris were be away from. us. We're already hurting.

No one else shares this bond and this. trauma like all of us, all four of us. I know the significance of the tragedy. and I I don't want you to think for a. second that I underestimate the impact. that it has on our lives, on everyone's. lives, or that I'm undermining. your concerns about the safety of those. in our household. So, 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 poor process together as a. family. Now, according to this lawsuit, according to Shelters' daughter, Erica. is complicit, allegedly complicit. alongside Christopher in a pattern of. repeated physical, emotional, and. psychological abuse which she claims. which she alleges happened when she was. in their custody from 2016 to 2021. So, from the age of 8 to 13. Dwayne, the. this teen can still sue Erica, but if Christopher's gone, what is that.

What kind of impact does that have on. the lawsuit? Well, I mean, you know, she can sue. anybody she wants, okay? And and the. question is is there's is there money. out there for her to get, okay? And and. I'm guessing there's a homeowner's. policy or something that that that they. found that they can go after. So, they. just have to have a plaintiff, you know, or a defendant. They they don't have to. have, you know, this specifically him. and they can go after Erica saying she. should have known or she saw this going.

on or she knew this was happening and. it's her and it's her negligence also. And because it happened at the house, I'm guessing the homeowner's policy is. is going to be in effect. Now, the lawsuit states, quote, "The. abuse included physical assault, verbal. degradation, intimidation, neglect, and. exposure to unsafe and traumatic living. conditions." And the complaint also. addresses multiple reports to the. Arizona Department of Child Safety which. it says, quote, "Failed to take any. protective action." We're going to get.

into that in just a minute. But first, but again, the lawsuit notes what. happened in the criminal case, that. Shelters entered that guilty plea to. second-degree murder. Dwayne, does the. criminal action affect the civil case in. any way? Well, they do because if you're. convicted of something, you can't come back in a civil suit and. say I didn't do it, okay? So, because. it's a it's a it's a higher standard, it's beyond a reasonable doubt. So, if. you're convicted, you know, it holds up. in a civil case. And in this case, he.

specifically pled guilty and and went. through a. plea quality plea where he admits he did. it, he understands, you know, so that. that'll hold up in a civil case. Well, the difference being, right, he pleads. guilty to essentially the murder of his. 2-year-old daughter. This lawsuit is. about his other child. So, could she. come out and say, "Listen, he just pled. guilty to murdering this child. That. substantiates my allegations against him. about what happened to me?". Okay. It's not going to substantiate the.

allegation so much the the conviction, but it's going to be it's going to be. all the evidence that was brought in. It's like the text message from from the. wife that said, "You know, I told you. over and over again to quit leaving the. kids in the car." You know, that's going. to substantiate her claims. And and and. it's going to be hard to deny it after. all the evidence that came out. Now, according to this lawsuit, it then. reads, quote, "Defendant Erica Shelters. aided, abetted, and or directly.

participated in the abuse of plaintiff. and in maintaining a violent and unsafe. home environment. The murder of Parker. Shelters was the culmination of a long. pattern of abuse, neglect, and violence. that defendants inflicted upon the. children in their care." And according. to Shelters' daughter, he actually had. her placed in a conservatorship in 2020. which she claims was fraudulent, that it. was done so he could control her. finances. According to the lawsuit, at. the time Maricopa County Superior Court. had ordered plaintiff return to the. custody of her biological mother, but.

defendant Christopher ignored the order. and continued to hold himself out as her. conservator. Defendant Christopher unlawfully. collected government benefits and. financial support in plaintiff's name. under the false conservatorship and for. his own personal gain. Defendant Erica. Schultis aided and abetted and or. benefited from the proceeds of the. fraudulent scheme. Yeah, Dwayne, I. wanted to ask you about this. You have. Schultis' daughter who is still a minor. Her guardians already have control over.

pretty much everything I would imagine. So, why get a conservatorship? Is it. related to the custody issues? And what. do you make of this claim? Well, a conservatorship means that he. can control her finances and collect her. government benefits on her behalf. Okay. And so, he wanted that so that he could. control the money. Now, the problem is. once he no longer had custody of her, then he should not have been the. conservator anymore and it should have. been changed. He didn't go back in and. change it. He didn't notify the courts.

that he was no longer, you know, that. she was no longer in his custody. And. so, you know, it it it technically is. fraudulent and he shouldn't have been. the conservator at that point. And by. the way, if you're Erica, what do you do. as a defense? I mean, again, what a what. an interest what a difficult time for. her, right? Dealing with. the loss of her child. Christopher's. going you know, Christopher's dead, being sued. What is her defense going to. be? Is she going to put. the impetus on him? Is she going to say.

I don't have any knowledge of any of. this whatsoever? These allegations are. without merit. What do you imagine a. defense from her? And then I'll get into. the causes of action. Well, absolutely. She's going to be be. pointing the finger at the dead guy. because, you know, the problem is it's a. community property state and the assets. that they're going to go after are the. community property assets. And so, and. so she's going to say, well, you know, the the the text messages I had were. about, you know, the. the daughter that died, not the not this.

daughter. I didn't say he left her in. the in the car all the time. So, she's going to she's going to defend. herself saying I had no idea. I had no. idea what he did with this girl. And it's going to be up to the trier of. fact to try to figure out what happened. I want to just go back to the next. friend who's filing the lawsuit, Lindsey. Eisenberg, on behalf of this daughter. She told the Daily Mail, quote, she has. made allegations that Chris drugged her. so he could sexually assault her. He was. physically abusive multiple times, constantly called her a mistake and a.

piece of bleep, would limit her food, which was dangerous, and had her locked. in a room most of the time. Now, this. teen is suing under five causes of. action in this lawsuit. Intentional. infliction of emotional distress, assault and battery, child abuse, fraud, financial exploitation and conversion, and negligent infliction of emotional. distress. Dwayne, which of those stand. out to you? Well, the the intention. intentional infliction of emotional. distress is is is is a bit is a bit hard.

to prove. The conversion is is is the. simplest one. That's just saying that. hey, he was taking her government. benefits and she and and not for her. benefit. So, he was stealing her money. basically is is the conversion claim. So, you know, and then negligence, you. know, just causing her her. pain and suffering and negligence is is. is another good one. Yeah, that it's. especially good for Erica because, you. know, she was negligent in knowing that.

this was going on and stopping and not. stopping it. And Eisenberg, again, the person who is. filing this lawsuit on behalf of this. daughter, also told the Daily Mail that. this teen wants to fight for custody of. her half-sisters when she turns 18, which again seems to be happening in. about 10 days. So, Schultis and his. wife, they had two surviving daughters, six and 10. Dwayne, according to the Daily Mail, the. teen also has a child of her own. And. when you think about that, what are the.

chances that she'll be able to get. custody of her half-sisters? Well, it's going to be a bit difficult. because the the the system favors the. parent. Okay. Now, now this parent, you. know, one the surviving parent has some. issues, okay? Because she wasn't very. she wasn't you know, all this happened. on her watch. And so, it it's possible, but the problem is she's, you know, 18. years old. You know, and she's going to. be she's going to be raising three. children at 18 years old. Not that she.

can't or not capable of doing it, but. it's going to be a bit of a stretch for. the court to do that. But, you never. know. I mean, if she wins a big chunk of. money in a lawsuit, lawsuit, then she. can say, "Hey, I've got the means, you. know, to help raise these children.". You know, but at right at 18 years old, you know, I don't know that she has the. the means to do it at this point. Now, I. want to get into something I mentioned. before, this Department of Child Safety. reports that were included as exhibit. three in lawsuit. And they lay out the.

multiple allegations of abuse, which DCS. apparently chose not to take further. action on for one reason or another. We'll talk about why. Because the. Schultis children are minors though, they're of course not named in the DCS. reports, but based on the dates, it's. our understanding, it's our belief that. these allegations were made in. connection with Schultis' eldest. daughter. However, we do not know who. made these reports to DCS. We don't have. all the information. They were included. as part of the department's.

investigation into Parker's death. So, let's talk about it. The document reads, quote, "On June 28th, 2014, a report was. received alleging physical abuse to a. child by their father, Mr. Schultis. The. report alleged that Mr. Schultis slapped. the child and squeezed her arm causing. bruising. There were no bruises observed. on the child by the DCS specialist. The. DCS investigation did not find evidence. to support the allegations and the child. was assessed as safe." Next report from. January 2017 makes similar claims. On. January 23rd, 2017, a report was.

received alleging physical abuse to a. child by their father, Mr. Schultis. The. report alleged that the father hit the. child and left bruises. The father. admitted to spanking the child, but. there were no bruises left or observed. by the DCS specialist. And while there. was a wide gap between the first and. second reports to DCS, the third came. just a few months later. Quote, "On. September 26th, 2017, a report was. received alleging neglect, physical. abuse, and emotional abuse to a child by.

their father, Mr. Schultis, and neglect. to the child by their stepmother. The. report alleged that Mr. Schultis slapped. the child causing them to lose their. breath and that the child is left to. manage their diabetes without parental. oversight." The next official report of. neglect came in February of 2019. Quote, "The report alleged the father yells at. the child excessively and tells the. child things to break them mentally, such as calling them by foul names and. referring to them as a mistake." So, you're seeing the pattern of allegations. here. Then we jump ahead to December of.

2019, where it says the report alleged. that the father has not allowed the. child to engage in therapy and calls. them derogatory names. During the. investigation, Mr. Schultis disclosed. not being able to afford the therapy. services and the child expressed the. desire to reside with their mother. Few. months later, April 2020, we have this. The report alleged that the child was. kicked out of the father's home and sent. with family. And then in September of. 2020, another report alleging emotional. abuse by both Schultis and Erica. Quote, "The report alleged that the child was.

experiencing suicidal ideation due to. their father and stepmother treating. them differently than the other children. in the home and calling the child. names." November of that year, quote, "The report alleged the father and. stepmother were verbally abusive towards. the child and called them derogatory. names." And almost every allegation. listed in this report ends with a. variation of these lines. The DCS. investigation did not result in evidence. to support the allegations and the child. was assessed as safe in Mr. Schultis'.

home. The allegations were. unsubstantiated, the family was provided. with information on services available. in the community, and the case was. closed. I got I got to ask, Dwayne, did. you know, did DCS, did they drop the. ball here? And if And also you have to. wonder, why are they not named in the. lawsuit? Well, that's an interesting question. Partially because because they have. qualified immunity and it's really hard. to pierce that. And there's also a. requirement that you have to you have to. send them a notice of claim within 6.

months of you knowing that you that you. have a claim. So, you know, it's it's. difficult. It's onerous to to to get. into that. I've tried before. But, the thing with DCS, they probably. dropped the ball, but DCS seems to swing. back and forth in Arizona. Sometimes. they will they will bring claims, I. mean, on the the flimsiest claim they'll. go after somebody. And sometimes there. can be claim after claim after claim. after claim and they can and they can be.

unsubstantiated and they end up in a in. a tragedy. And and that happens. When. there's when there's that many claims, it usually ends up in a tragedy and and. they've got to come up with a better. system. Well, these reports in and of themselves, if. they didn't lead to the children being. taken away or anything of that nature, if you have these reports as an exhibit, is that enough in a civil case to prove. like child abuse, right? One of the the. claims that they're suing for. Is it.

enough to prove intentional or negligent. infliction of emotional distress? If you. have a documented history of reports, yes, they they didn't lead to further. action. Yes, they might not have been. substantiated. Is that enough for a jury. in a civil case to say that Erica and. Christopher Schultis are liable? Well, again, it's a preponderance of the. evidence in a civil court. It just means. it's a it's more likely than not that. the claim is true, not that proven. beyond a reasonable doubt. And so, the. fact that the that the that the reports.

were made and there were so many of. them, I think it's going to weigh heavy. on a jury. I think that the jury's going. to go, you know, what was CPS doing? They should have known. And and what does it mean when. something's unsubstantiated? I imagine. if you're talking about verbal abuse, emotional abuse, sometimes I mean, how. do you prove that? Is it the children's. words against the guardian or parents? When you hear that it wasn't be able to. be substantiated or unsubstantiated, what does that mean? It just means that they looked into it.

and they couldn't find any hard evidence. that it happened. And and by looking. into it, they usually interview. the parents, they usually interview the. kid, they interview any other kids in. the household. And after their. investigation, they're saying, you know, we can't They're not saying it. didn't happen. They're just saying that. that we can't prove that it happened. Now, the final claim that was referenced. in the DCS report is from December 2020. and it reads, quote, "The report alleged. that the father never filled.

prescriptions and medications for the. child and was refusing to set up. behavioral health services for the. child. The DCS investigation did not. result in evidence to support the. allegations as the medications were. filled, their distribution was being. overseen by the parents and the child. was enrolled in services. The. allegations were unsubstantiated. The. child transitioned to their mother's. care, the family was referred for. in-home services and the case was closed. in April 2021.". Now, according to the lawsuit, the teen. went to live with her mother at this. point and sadly her mom apparently. passed away in 2024 leaving her without.

a caregiver or guardian, which is where. Lindsay Eisenberg comes in. Also, Dwayne, Christopher, he might be gone. Erica's still here. From a criminal. point of view, could the DA potentially. pursue charges I mean, against her based. on these reports, based on these. allegations? Is that a possibility? Well, it's always a possibility. You can. charge anybody with anything. However, she can probably be charged with with. with child neglect. Okay? So, there's.

there there's a child abuse charge that. she could probably be charged with, you. know, simply based on her her uh. text message where she said, "I told you. over and over again to not do that." And. again, that would be the the the text. message would be in her defense saying, "Listen, I told him not to do it. I was. mad at him for doing it. I didn't just. let him do it. I was trying to stop it.". And so, but again, they they they could. I doubt they will. Now, the DCS. paperwork provided an update on that. teen's half-siblings in the wake of.

2-year-old Parker's death. It says, quote, "Following an assessment of child. safety, the siblings in the home were. assessed as safe in their mother's care. The allegations of neglect to Parker by. her father, Christopher Schultheis, were. substantiated. The family was provided. with information on services available. in the community and the case was. closed. Now, this also includes details. of a new claim that was submitted to the. to the department. And this includes. This alleges sexual abuse. Quote, "A. subsequent report was received on June. 27th, 2025 with allegations of neglect.

and physical abuse to a sibling by their. father and stepmother. The report also. includes an allegation of sexual abuse. to the sibling by the father, Christopher Schultheis, that was alleged. to have occurred in 2020. The. investigation resulted in the removal of. one child from the father's home, but. the other siblings were determined to. not be in present danger and remained in. the home. The case remains open and the. department is providing services to the. child. And DCS says, a quote, 'multidisciplinary team' known as an MDT.

is reviewing the Schultheis case to. quote, 'assess and guide future changes. and or recommendations to quote, 'improve the quality of outcomes for. children and families' and it expects a. report on the MDT's findings to come out. in December. Dwayne, what should we take. away from that? Well, you know, I mean, it's an. allegation. He's dead, so they can't. prosecute him for it. And you know, and. DCS is basically admitting that they. have some problems and that they dropped. the ball and they're going to look into.

it and they're going to try to figure. out what they did wrong and how to do. better, which is what they should do. Final point about this lawsuit. So, the. lawsuit doesn't provide, at least as far. as I could see, maybe you saw different, but doesn't provide a clear dollar. amount of the damages. um that she's seeking here. It says that. the amount exceeds $50,000 that she's. apparently looking for damages related. to severe emotional distress, mental. anguish, PTSD, economic loss from the. allegedly fraudulent conservatorship, past and future therapy expenses. What.

are we looking at here in terms of a. number? What are we looking at in terms. of potential settlement number? And what. are we looking at if this does go to. trial and there is a full accounting of. liability, right? The Schultheis. uh Erica and and Christopher, they're. found liable. What are numbers we might. be looking at here? Well, number one, the the numbers are. going to be what they uh policy limits. of the insurance claim are. Okay? It's also going to depend on the. Schultheis.

uh what assets they have. Now, there's. there there their home is most likely a. certain amount is exempt. You know, certain things that they have There's. exempt property. And most people, if you. just sue them, don't have the kind of. funds to go after. Now, I they might, okay? And so, that might add to it. But again, it. you know, you could come up with a you. know, $5 million, you know, number, but that makes no difference if. there's no money out there to pay it.

So, these things usually settle. for what the insurance company's willing. to pay. And and again, if the insurance. company believes they're on the hook for. this, they're going to offer policy. limits and it's usually around, you. know, 300,000, could be a million. Is it tough to prove those kind of. damages though? Well, yes and no. I mean, again, you. don't have to prove it if it's a. settlement. You only have to prove it if. you go to trial. Right. >> And 95, 98% of cases don't go to trial.

But if you go to trial, you know, she. gets up on the stand and she cries and. she says how horrible her life is and. how bad things are and they they use her. psychologist or psychologist will come. in and testify about how this has. affected her life and and you know, and. and they'll put on a they'll put on a. big show and and and you know, you'll. see what you know, we'll see what the. the jury comes up with. But you know, this case will never see a jury. Why do you say that? Well, because the insurance company's. going to pay.

Okay? You know, they want no part of this. Okay? And so, they're they're going to. offer policy limits. And then and then again, it just comes. down to the amount that's. that's that of money that that's. collectible from the Schultheis. And if. they if they're if they're not. collectible, then then it'll end it'll. end there. But wouldn't Erica want to, you know, if this she might want to deny. all these allegations. These are very. serious allegations against her and. Christopher. Wouldn't she want to fight. it?

Well, yeah. And again, if you you know, if you fight it and and your insurance. company, you know, tenders. tenders policy limits, then you know, then you're on the hook for anything. over that. Okay? You're on the hook. So, so, you know, in. order to protect that what assets they. have left, they she it's generally, you. know, worth settling. And again, 95, 98% of these cases settle. Only two. or three percent go to trial. There's.

only reason two reasons to go to trial. If you got nothing to lose or you think. you can win. Dwayne Cates, thank you so much. Really. appreciate it. Thank you for having me on. 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. speak to you next time. [Music].