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Indian-American doctor held for daughter's murder in Florida
Authorities allege she staged the child’s death as an accidental drowning.
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Malvika Choudhary - Thu, 03, Jul 2025
- 15:48 EDT
- 25
Neha Gupta / Oklahoma County Detention Centre
An Indian-American pediatrician was arrested for allegedly murdering her four-year-old daughter in South Florida on July 2.
Neha Gupta, 36, a pediatrician from Oklahoma City, was taken into custody in connection with the death of her daughter, Aria Talathi, while on vacation in the village of El Portal, just north of Miami city limits. Authorities allege she staged the death as an accidental drowning.
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The Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office (MDSO) said officers responded to a 911 call from Gupta around 3:30 am on June 27, reporting that her daughter was found unresponsive in the pool of their short-term rental. Emergency responders transported her to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center, where she was pronounced dead.
Although initially treated as a possible drowning, the case took a grim turn after the autopsy ruled out drowning as the cause of death. Additional signs of trauma, along with inconsistencies in Gupta’s statements and surveillance footage, led detectives to conclude the death had been staged.
Gupta told investigators she and her daughter had spent the day at the beach and riding jet skis before dining and going to bed around 12:30 am. She claimed she woke around 3:20 am after hearing a strange sound, found her daughter in the pool and called 911.
Following the autopsy and consultation with the State Attorney’s Office, an arrest warrant was issued. Gupta was located in Oklahoma City with assistance from the local police department and the U.S. Marshals Service. She is currently in custody, awaiting extradition to Miami-Dade County, where she will face a charge of first-degree murder.
Authorities also revealed that Gupta and her ex-husband, Saurabh Talathi, were involved in a custody dispute, and that he was unaware she had taken their daughter to Florida. Gupta had recently been terminated from her role at the University of Oklahoma, where she worked as a pediatrician. Officials confirmed she was removed from patient care duties and dismissed on May 30.
Gupta earned her medical degree in 2012 from Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Medical College in Madhya Pradesh. The investigation is ongoing.
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