EL PORTAL, Fla. (Court TV) — An Oklahoma pediatrician is facing murder charges in Florida after police say she killed her 4-year-old daughter and then staged the scene to look like a drowning.
Dr. Neha Gupta was arrested in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, on July 1 and will be extradited to Miami-Dade County, Florida, to face charges.
Dr. Neha Gupta was arrested in Oklahoma on charges she murdered her 4-year-old daughter in Florida. (Oklahoma County Detention Center)
In a news release, investigators said El Portal police were dispatched to a 911 call at approximately 4:30 a.m. on June 27, where a child was reported to be drowning in a pool at a short-term rental home. First-responders pulled the child from the water, identified as Gupta’s 4-year-old daughter Aria Talathi, and took her to a hospital where she was pronounced dead. Investigators determined that Gupta had traveled with her daughter from Oklahoma City and the two were staying at the rental.
According to an arrest warrant reviewed by Court TV, Gupta initially told officers that Talathi accidentally drowned when she slipped out of bed during the night, but an autopsy performed by the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner’s Office revealed no water in the child’s lungs or stomach. The autopsy determined that Talathi’s death was consistent with asphyxiation by smothering, noting signs of trauma inside her mouth. Investigators allege that Gupta had attempted to stage the drowning.
Gupta was involved in a custody battle with her ex-husband at the time, investigators said. When officers spoke to the child’s father, he said he didn’t know that Talathi had been taken out of state.
“We are disappointed that the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office succumbed to pressure and rushed to judgment,” Gupta’s attorney, Richard Cooper, said in a statement to WPLG. “As a result, a grieving mother who just lost her daughter is in jail. We look forward to a full investigation, which will uncover the truth of the matter.”
In a statement to KOCO, OU Health said, “Dr. Neha Gupta was suspended from patient care, given notice of termination, and was no longer seeing patients at the health system as of May 30, 2025. She has also been given notice of termination by the University.”
