A two-year-old girl has tragically become the latest to die amid the severe Arizona heatwave.
According to the Marana Police Department, the initial investigation reports that a toddler named Parker Scholtes died on Tuesday (July 9) after her father, Chris Scholtes, 37, left her asleep in a car.
As it was 109F that day, the dad left the vehicle running and the air conditioning on before entering the residence, per the press release.
Chris returned to his car after 30 minutes to discover his little one was unresponsive, with the engine and air conditioner turned off.
Northwest Fire District and Marana Police Department "responded to the area of Paseo Rancho Acero," after 4PM.
The toddler was rushed to Banner University Medical Center Tucson, where her mother Erika Scholtes, 35, worked as an anesthesiologist.
"Resuscitation efforts were being done, and the child was immediately transported to the hospital," the department wrote. "Unfortunately, the child was pronounced deceased at the hospital.
"MPD Criminal Investigations Unit is on scene to determine the circumstances surrounding this incident," they added.
Marana Police Captain Tim Brunenkant spoke out about the devastating incident, saying the details about Parker's death were still being investigated.
“We are doing our interviews with the dad, any witnesses, neighbors, to determine if the car was still running, if the AC was still operational,” Marana police Capt. Tim Brunenkant told KPNX.
Brunenkant added that it was unclear how long the child was in the car, and how long since the engine and air-conditioning were turned off.
"All we know is that it was a hot car. The child was unresponsive, it was very hot, and it's very tragic," he said, reported by Daily Mail. "He left the child in the car. The car was running, the AC was operational.
"We are trying to determine how long he was in the house, at what time the car may have shut off or the AC stopped working," he added.
In the past two weeks, there have been two heat-related deaths in Arizona.
The first heartbreaking incident took place on Tuesday (July 2) after a nine-year-old boy named Cortinez Logan died following triple-figure temperatures.
The tragedy occurred after Logan went on a trail walk with his family at the South Mountain Park and Preserve near Phoenix.
The family called fire crews to the Mormon Trailhead near 24th Street and Baseline after the child became overheated. Cortinez went "in and out of consciousness," while being administered CPR and was airlifted to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead.
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Three days later, a four-month-old baby identified as Tanna Rae Wroblewski tragically passed away after being out on a boat in Lake Havasu with family.
The parents performed CPR on their baby girl until the Lake Havasu City Fire Department arrived at the scene and rushed her to Lake Havasu Regional Medical Center. Tragically, she was pronounced dead after being airlifted to Phoenix Children’s Hospital.
Our thoughts are with Parker, Cortinez, and Tanna's loved ones at this time.
