Pediatrician Charged with Killing Daughter and Faking Drowning

Dr. Neha Gupta, an Oklahoma pediatrician, is facing first-degree murder charges after allegedly killing her 4-year-old daughter, Aria Talathi, and staging the scene to look like a drowning in a Miami rental home’s pool.

Aria was found unresponsive on June 27 at a home in El Portal. Gupta told police she found Aria underwater around 3:20 a.m. and claimed she couldn’t save her because she couldn’t swim. But an autopsy revealed no water in Aria’s lungs—only internal mouth injuries consistent with smothering.

After the incident, Gupta returned to Oklahoma, where dramatic bodycam footage shows police storming her home, finding her in a dark kitchen, and arresting her at gunpoint.

Gupta, who was in a custody battle with Aria’s father, was extradited to Miami-Dade, where she remains held without bond. Her lawyer argues that authorities acted prematurely and maintains the child’s death was a tragic accident. But a judge found sufficient evidence to move forward based on the autopsy and physical findings.