An Arizona man, the father accused of murder, received approval to vacation in Hawaii with his family.
Christopher Scholtes asked the court to let him travel to Maui with his wife and two surviving daughters.
Just days before requesting the trip, Scholtes rejected a plea deal from prosecutors. The deal would have lowered his charge from first-degree to second-degree murder.
Scholtes chose to plead not guilty and now awaits trial.
Authorities say the case began when Scholtes allegedly left his 2-year-old daughter in a hot car. He went inside to play video games.
His wife later found the child unconscious in the vehicle. The temperature inside the car reached 109 degrees.
Scholtes told police he left the car running with the air conditioner on because his daughter was asleep.
He admitted he knew the engine would shut off after 30 minutes.
Detectives interviewed his other daughters, aged 6 and 9. They said he had left them in the car alone before.
Messages between Scholtes and his wife supported their claims. In one message, she warned him not to leave the children in the car.
Prosecutors charged him with first-degree murder and intentional child abuse.
Judge Kimberly Ortiz approved his travel request after a hearing.
She required him to follow all conditions of his pretrial release. He must stay in contact with pretrial services throughout the trip.
The judge also barred him from having unsupervised contact with any children, including his own.
Prosecutors asked the court to seize his passport. The judge denied that motion.
The father accused of murder is scheduled to face trial in the coming months.
If convicted, he could spend the rest of his life in prison.
For the latest crime and people news, Visit DC Brief.
