EL PORTAL, Fla. – A pediatrician from Oklahoma is facing a first-degree murder charge in connection with the death of her 4-year-old daughter in South Florida — a case Miami-Dade detectives now say involved a staged drowning and signs of “asphyxiation by smothering.”
Detectives with MDSO’s Homicide Bureau said they arrested Dr. Neha Gupta, the child’s mother, after an investigation into the incident, which occurred in the early morning hours of June 27 at a short-term rental home in El Portal.
5 p.m. report:
Authorities said Gupta, 36, and her daughter, Aria Talathi, were visiting South Florida from Oklahoma City.
According to El Portal police, officers and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue responded to the home at 3:41 a.m. on June 27, after a report of a child found unresponsive in a swimming pool.
Officers met Gupta, who directed them to the backyard where they found Aria submerged in the deep end, according to the report.
First responders pulled Aria from the pool and began CPR. She was transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center, where doctors pronounced her dead at 4:28 a.m., authorities confirmed.
A neighbor who spoke with Local 10 News shortly after the incident said the circumstances were troubling.
“The fact that a 4-year-old at 3 o’clock in the morning would be outside is, to me, a little bit alarming,” said a woman identified only as Barbra.
Detectives said Gupta initially told them that the drowning was an accident.
In a recorded interview with detectives later that day, Gupta said she and Aria returned to the rental home the previous evening between 7 and 8 p.m. after spending the day at the beach and riding jet skis.
Gupta claimed Aria was asleep when they arrived, but she woke her up around 9 p.m. for dinner, and they both slept in the same bed of the master bedroom around 12:30 a.m., according to the report.
Detectives said Gupta claimed that she awoke around 3:20 a.m. to a “unidentified noise” and discovered Aria was no longer in bed.
They said she found a sliding glass door open and saw her daughter submerged in the pool.
Gupta attempted to pull Aria out but told detectives that she couldn’t swim and was unsuccessful. She said she tried to “assist the deceased victim” for approximately 10 minutes before calling 911, according to the report.
But those claims unraveled under scrutiny, detectives said.
Authorities said the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner’s Office performed an autopsy on Aria on June 29.
A doctor concluded the child’s lungs and stomach did not contain water — ruling out drowning as the cause of death, the report stated.
The examiner also noted cuts in Aria’s mouth and bruises inside her cheeks, injuries not consistent with CPR, according to investigators.
The medical examiner’s preliminary finding was that the injuries appeared consistent with “smothering” and said the child was likely already dead before being placed in the pool.
Additionally, the autopsy revealed Aria’s stomach was empty, contradicting Gupta’s claim that she had eaten dinner around 9 p.m.
Investigators also learned that Gupta shared custody of the child with her ex-husband, Dr. Saurabh Talathi, and that there was an ongoing custody battle in Oklahoma.
Saurabh Talathi, who lives in Oklahoma, told investigators he was unaware that Gupta had taken Aria out of state.
Detectives said that Gupta voluntarily came to the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office headquarters on June 27, accompanied by her attorney, and gave her recorded statement.
But detectives said the totality of the evidence — including surveillance video, autopsy results, and Gupta’s own inconsistencies — pointed to a staged drowning and an intentional killing.
“The subject attempted to conceal the killing of the deceased victim by staging an accidental drowning within the swimming pool of a rental property,” the affidavit stated.
Following the autopsy findings and further review by the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office, an arrest warrant was issued.
Detectives said they traveled to Oklahoma City on Wednesday, where Gupta was arrested with help from the Oklahoma City Police Department’s Homicide Unit and the U.S. Marshals Service.
She is now awaiting extradition to Miami-Dade County to face a charge of first-degree murder and is expected to be held on no bond.
Gupta’s attorney, Richard Cooper, who is working the case alongside attorney Michael Mirer, defended his client in a statement Wednesday.
“We are disappointed that the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office succumbed to pressure and rushed to judgment,” Cooper said. “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.”
OU Health and the University of Oklahoma released a joint statement on the status of Gupta’s employment following her 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. She has also been given notice of termination by the University.”
