Despite enduring two devastating tragedies in just 18 months, Erika Scholtes showed remarkable resilience as she focused on putting up Christmas decorations over the weekend.

The 37-year-old anesthesiologist was photographed outside her $1 million home in Phoenix for the first time since her husband, Christopher, tragically ended his life four weeks prior by carbon monoxide poisoning.

Christopher Scholtes, 38, took his life on the day he was supposed to begin serving a 20 to 30-year prison sentence. His conviction followed the heartbreaking incident where their two-year-old daughter, Parker, was left in a hot car and died.

A neighbor recounted to the Daily Mail the harrowing moment when Erika, along with their nanny and children, discovered Christopher’s lifeless body in his red Honda S2000 convertible.

“They were all standing there staring at the car, and he was already deceased inside,” the neighbor described, having observed the distressing scene through the open garage door.

‘All of a sudden [Erika] started walking around and this other lady pulled up all frantic and they ran up to the door. Then the police and the fire department showed up.’

The neighbor then described the scene in details too graphic to publish in full, and explained the sports car was still sitting in the garage where Scholtes died.

‘I don’t know how far [the fumes] went into the house, but the kids were there, the family was there. It could have been bad,’ they added.

Erika has kept a low profile since her husband’s suicide on November 5 and was joined by family for a somber Thanksgiving at her home in Phoenix.

Erika Scholtes put on a brave face outside her home in Phoenix, Arizona, after being rocked by two tragedies 

The anesthesiologist, 37, was seen outside her $1 million home taking down Halloween decorations and putting up bits for Christmas, with the help of a younger man (right)

Unemployed Scholtes left his youngest daughter napping for three hours in the boiling hot family car while he drank beer, played video games, and watched porn as she slowly died.

Erika spent Sunday afternoon packing away Halloween bits and putting up Christmas decorations with the help of her stepfather Darrin King and another young man. 

She had a very different look to her glamorous social media photos, in skinny jeans and a gray top over a long-sleeved high-neck shirt, black-rimmed glasses and her long hair tied back.

The grieving widow lugged three pumpkins away from the family’s porch, along with a bale of hay.

Soon they were replaced by a large seasonal wreath on the front door, a Merry Christmas doormat, a small metal bicycle and door, and a blackboard reading ‘Home is where the heart is’.

Her daughters could be seen poking their heads between the blinds and a large Christmas tree with colored lights to look out the window. 

The Scholtes family moved 110 miles from the house in Marana where Parker died after buying a $1.025 million four-bedroom, 2,400sqft home in the Phoenix suburbs in April.

Neighbors recalled Erika being cheery and friendly before her husband’s suicide, in contrast to Scholtes who seemed standoffish and ‘arrogant’.

Parker Scholtes, 2, died of heatstroke after her father left her napping in a hot car while he drank beer, watched porn and played video games for three hours

Christopher Scholtes (left) and his wife, holding Parker in her arms, along with their two older daughters

One local resident said they never had a full conversation with the couple, but exchanged greetings in the street.

‘He wasn’t real friendly, kind of arrogant. I think it was all about him, to do what he did is. You know, leave a child in a hot car,’ they said.

‘[Erika in recent days] just seems to be going about her business, moving on with her life, you know, taking the kids to school and all that.’

A second neighbor said Scholtes came to his door on Halloween, just four days before his suicide, with his daughters.

Erika would make small talk about neighborhood goings-on, but Scholtes was quiet and disengaged.

‘She’s real friendly, she’s nice… she was great, very upfront,’ they said. 

‘Now that I think back at it, it was kind of like he knew something was coming up,’ they added, wondering if Scholtes was already planning his suicide.

The Scholtes family moved 94 miles from the house in Marana where Parker died after buying a four-bedroom, 2,400sqft home in the Phoenix suburbs in April (shown with a newly decorated wreath)

Scholtes, 38, was found dead in his beloved red convertible inside the garage of their new home (pictured in the former family home on the day Parker died) 

Erika Scholtes, 37, was an anesthesiologist at the same hospital her daughter was rushed to. She was at work when Parker died but stood by her late husband 

Parker died while strapped into her car seat in the driveway of the former family home in the Tucson suburb of Marana, Arizona, on a 109F day from 12.53pm to just after 4pm on July 9, 2024.

The toddler was only found when Erika came home from work at Banner University Medical Center in Tucson – where Parker was declared dead an hour later. 

Erika now works as an anesthesiologist at Banner’s Phoenix hospital. She was off work on Monday and it is unclear if she is still on leave while dealing with her husband’s death. 

Scholtes told police that he left Parker in the car with the engine running and the air-conditioning on because she was asleep when they arrived home.

However, he lost track of time and the engine automatically shut off after about 20 minutes – as police testing confirmed. 

Crime scene photos newly obtained by the Daily Mail show tiny handprints on the inside of the window in the blue family 2023 Acura MDX.

Crime scene photos taken by the Marana Police Department showed tiny handprints on the inside of the window in the car inches from where Parker was strapped in

The blue 2023 Acura MDX parked in the driveway of the family home in Marana, Arizona on July 9, 2024 – the day Parker died

The haunting marks on the rear driver’s side window were just inches from where Parker’s forward-facing car seat was buckled in.

Police testing found the surface temperature of the car seat was 149.1F, according to detailed incident reports by the Marana Police Department. 

Scholtes’s two surviving daughters described to detectives the frantic moment before the couple realized where Parker was and sprinted to the car.

‘[One of the girls] said when her mom got home she asked, “Where’s the baby?” and her dad said, “Where’s the baby!?” and ran outside,’ one officer wrote.

‘”My dad started screaming cause he walked outside and he saw that she was in the car still, her lips were purple and she wasn’t breathing.”

‘When they saw her mom and dad crying, they knew Parker was dead.’