Doctor charged with murdering her 4-year-old daughter in ‘staged drowning’
On July 2, law enforcement officials in Miami shared a tragic and horrific tale when Homicide detectives with the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office (MDSO) announced the arrest of a mother in connection to the death of her 4-year-old daughter.
Dr. Neha Gupta, who is a pediatrician, is accused of killing her daughter, 4-year-old Aria Talathi, who was found “floating in a pool” behind a home at 156 NW 90 Street on June 27. Video showed police investigating after Miami-Dade Fire Rescue performed CPR on the child. She was rushed to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead, the sheriff’s office said. ~ NBC News
Background: According to investigators, uniform officers from the Village of El Portal Police Department responded to reports of a drowning child in a residential pool. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue responded and transported the child to an area hospital, where medical staff pronounced her deceased.
The preliminary investigation revealed that the mother and her daughter had traveled from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, for vacation and were staying at a short-term rental. During the overnight hours, a 9-1-1 call was received stating the child was drowning inside the pool. Once officers arrived, they discovered the child unresponsive inside the pool.
Through investigative means and consultation with the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office, detectives obtained an arrest warrant for the mom and traveled to Oklahoma City. With the assistance of the Oklahoma City Police Department’s Homicide Unit and the United States Marshals Service, they were able to locate and take the mother into custody.
Initially, Gupta claimed that she awoke to a noise at 3:30 a.m. and that her daughter must have made her way out of the residence, through a sliding glass door and into the back yard pool – where the mother found her submerged in the deep end.
Gupta said she attempted to pull Aria out of the water 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. ~ Local 10
The story behind those claims unraveled following a June 29 autopsy report from the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner’s Office. That report discovered no water in the child’s lungs or stomach – meaning she was dead before being discovered in the water. The autopsy report also cited cuts found in Aria’s mouth and bruises inside her cheeks, “injuries not consistent with CPR.”
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.
Detectives also learned that Gupta shared custody of her daughter with her ex-husband, Dr. Saurabh Talathi, and that there was an active custody battle raging in Oklahoma. The father told investigators that his ex-wife transported their daughter out of state without his knowledge,
Ultimately, detectives concluded that the child’s death was the result of a “staged drowning and an intentional killing.” As of this writing, Gupta is pending extradition to Miami-Dade County where she will be charged with Murder in the 1st Degree.
For more on this tragic story, see the video below.
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(Source: Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office)
(Cover photo of Dr. Neha Gupta: Oklahoma County Detention Center)
Posted by Richard Webster, Ace News Today
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