A PEDIATRICIAN has been accused of murdering her daughter and trying to cover it up during a custody battle with her ex-husband.
Dr. Neha Gupta, 36, allegedly threw her four-year-old’s body into a pool to make it look like an accidental drowning, police said.
Police discovered Aria Talathi, the daughter of Dr. Gupta, floating in the backyard pool of a vacation rental property in a Miami suburb during the early hours of June 27. She was pronounced dead approximately an hour after being found.
Dr. Gupta, a pediatrician based in Oklahoma, reported that she saw her daughter in the deep section of the pool and attempted to rescue her for 10 minutes before notifying the authorities.
However, the girl’s autopsy revealed she was likely smothered to death before she was submerged in water, the medical examiner said.
On Monday, Gupta was arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder in her daughter’s death.
Dr. Gupta shared custody of Aria with her ex-husband, Dr. Saurabh Talathi, who reportedly informed police he was unaware his daughter had left Oklahoma, as stated in an arrest warrant.
TRIP TO FLORIDA
Gupta traveled to El Portal, just north of Miami, from the Oklahoma City area on June 25 and rented an Airbnb, investigators said.
At around 3:30 am on June 27, she called 911 about a drowning in the pool in the backyard at the rental home.
First responders raced to the scene to find the four-year-old unresponsive inside the pool. They pulled her out and gave her CPR.
She was then rushed to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Gupta told detectives she and her daughter spent the day on the beach riding jet skis and came back to the home between 7 and 8 pm.
She said she woke her daughter up to eat dinner at around 9 pm and the two went to sleep in the same bed in the master bedroom at around 12:30 am.
A loud noise woke Gupta up at around 3:20 am, she told police, and she realized Aria wasn’t in the bedroom.
Timeline of Neha Gupta’s case
Dr. Neha Gupta is accused of killing her four-year-old daughter and staging it as an accidental drowning. Below is a timeline of events:
June 25 – Gupta travels to El Portal, Florida, with her four-year-old daughter, Aria Talathi.
June 26 – Gupta later says that she and Aria went to the beach and rode jet skis all day and returned to their Airbnb between 7 and 8 pm before eating dinner at 9 pm.
June 27
- 12:30 am – The time Gupta said she and Aria went to bed.
- 3:20 am – When Gupta says she woke up and noticed Aria wasn’t in bed with her before finding her in the pool.
- Around 3:30 am – Gupta calls police and reports a drowning.
- Just before 3:45 am – Police get to the scene and find Aria unresponsive in the pool. They pull her out and perform CPR.
- 4:28 am – Aria is pronounced dead at a local hospital. Gupta provides a statement to police.
June 29 – An autopsy performed on Aria’s body reveals she died by suffocation and not drowning.
July 1 – Gupta is arrested and booked into jail.
She said she realized the sliding glass doors in the home were open, despite her locking them before she went to sleep.
Gupta claimed she found her daughter underwater in the pool, and tried to get her out but couldn’t because she can’t swim.
DROWNING RULED OUT
On June 29, an autopsy by the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner Department didn’t find any water in the girl’s lungs or stomach, according to the arrest warrant.
Aria was found with cuts in her mouth and bruising in her cheeks, which were determined to have taken place before the child was put in the swimming pool, the medical examiner said.
The wounds suggested that Aria didn’t drown, and that she was instead smothered to death.
The autopsy also found that the girl’s stomach was empty, which contradicted the meal her mom said she ate at 9 pm.
Detectives went to Gupta’s home in Oklahoma, where she had returned, and arrested her for killing her daughter and staging it as an accidental drowning.
Gupta maintains her innocence and her lawyer, Richard L. Cooper, slammed police who he said “decided to hastily arrest a grieving mother who fully cooperated with the police and who is absolutely devastated for the loss of her child, according to NBC News.
“We look forward to more evidence, evidence that the Miami Dade Sheriff’s office could not possibly have obtained in the 24-hour investigation that they completed,” Cooper told NBC on Thursday.
The University of Oklahoma and OU Health released a joint statement on Wednesday following Gupta’s arrest.
“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,” the joint statement said.
“She has also been given notice of termination by the University.”
It’s unclear why Gupta was fired in May.
BITTER CUSTODY BATTLE
Talathi told police he and Gupta were in an “ongoing custody battle” at the time of Aria’s death, the police affidavit said.
The divorce was filed in 2022 and finalized in 2024, court records said, according to the Miami Herald.
The two fought over attorney fees and in May, Gupta was ordered to pay Talathi more than $79,000.
Gupta got a temporary protective order against her ex-husband, which was later dismissed because she couldn’t prove his alleged domestic violence
Earlier this year, Talathi requested that Gupta undergo psychiatric evaluations during the custody battle, according to court records obtained by ABC affiliate WPLG. It’s unclear if she complied.
Gupta’s divorce attorney, Chris Smith, told the Miami Herald that he believes Gupta is innocent.
“Neha Gupta is a caring and attentive mother, fully dedicated to her child,” Smith told the outlet.
“The idea that she could have harmed her child is completely inconsistent with her character and the life she has led. This is a grieving mother facing unimaginable loss, not a criminal.”
Gupta remains in jail in Oklahoma City and faces extradition back to Miami-Dade County, where she’ll be charged with murder.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or chat at thehotline.org.
