An Oklahoma pediatrician is accused of murdering her 4-year-old daughter in Florida and staging her death to appear as an accidental drowning.
Neha Gupta, 36, was on vacation in El Portal in Miami with her daughter, Aria Talathi, when she called 911 at around 3:30 a.m. on June 27 about a drowning in the pool at their short-term rental, according to the Miami-Dade County Sheriff’s Office.
Officers and Fire Rescue arrived on the scene to find the 4-year-old unresponsive still inside the pool and immediately pulled her out and began to give her CPR, Local 10 News reported.
They then rushed her to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center, where she was pronounced dead about an hour after Gupta called 911.
Gupta told detectives they had dinner at around 9 p.m. after spending the day at the beach and riding jet skis, then went to bed together in the master bedroom around 12:30 a.m.
She then claimed to have been woken at 3:20 a.m. to an “unidentified noise” in the backyard and found her daughter in the pool, adding that she couldn’t swim but tried to rescue her for about 10 minutes before calling 911.
Gupta, accompanied by her attorney, voluntarily came to the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office headquarters that same day and gave her recorded statement.
However, what appeared at first to be a tragic drowning was quickly revealed to be something more sinister.
An autopsy reportedly found no water in Talathi’s lungs or stomach. But the medical examiner did discover injuries in her mouth and cheeks, suggesting she died from “asphyxiation by smothering,” Local 10 News reported.
The medical examiner concluded the 4-year-old had likely died before being placed in the pool, and noted that her empty stomach contradicted her mother’s claim that they had eaten dinner at 9 p.m.
Miami homicide detectives said evidence, including surveillance footage, the autopsy results, Gupta’s statement, and consulting with the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office, was enough for them to believe she staged the drowning and obtained an arrest warrant.
After being granted the warrant, investigators learned that Gupta had already returned to her home state.
Miami-Dade police detectives traveled to Oklahoma City on Wednesday, and with the help of the Oklahoma City Police Department’s Homicide Unit and the US Marshals, tracked down Gupta and arrested her.
She is currently awaiting extradition to Miami-Dade County, where she is facing a first-degree murder charge.
Her Lawyer, Richard Cooper, said following her arrest that he’s “disappointed that the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office succumbed to pressure and rushed to judgment,” Local 10 reported.
“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,” Cooper said.
Leading up to her arrest, homicide detectives found that Gupta was in a bitter custody battle in Oklahoma with her ex-husband, Dr. Saurabh Talathi, the Miami Herald reported.
Saurabh Talathi told investigators he was unaware his ex-wife had taken their daughter out of state.
An attorney involved in the two-year custody battle called the case “highly contentious,” involving “aggressive tactics” and “protracted proceedings,” according to court records obtained by the Herald.
The couple filed for divorce in 2022, with it being finalized in an Oklahoma court in 2024. However, a judge denied Gupta’s request for sole custody of their child.
Gupta also received a temporary protective order against Saurabh Talathim, alleging he committed domestic violence against her, but the order was later dismissed after investigators could not prove her claim.
A judge also ordered Gupta to pay Saurabh Talathi $79,000 for attorney’s fees, with his lawyers recently filing to have Gupta’s wages or property garnished, the Miami Herald reported.
Around that time, Gupta — a licensed pediatrician at Oklahoma Children’s Hospital — was fired from her job.
“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,” OU Health and the University of Oklahoma said in a joint statement following her arrest.
