An Oklahoma pediatrician, 36-year-old Dr. Neha Gupta, was arrested and charged with the murder of her 4-year-old daughter Aria Talathi, authorities say.
"This individual is accused of committing a horrendous act, and her swift arrest illustrates the professionalism, communication, and teamwork of all agencies involved," said U.S. Marshal for the Southern District of Florida, Gadyaces Serralta, according to KOKO News.
During the wee hours of June 27, authorities responded to a home in El Portal, Florida. Upon arrival, the defendant led first responders to the pool of the short-term rental property where her child was found at the deep end. Talathi was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
According to investigators, Gupta told them that she and her daughter had been riding jet skis all day and had returned to the residence around 8 p.m. Then, the defendant fed her daughter an hour later before Talathi went to bed around midnight.
Gupta claimed she woke up due to a noise at about 3 am and found that her daughter, who had slept in the same bed with her, was not there. Soon, Gupta found the child in the deep end of the pool, but was unable to save her because she did not know how to swim.
Later, a preliminary autopsy report by the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner's Department showed that there was an absence of water in the lungs of Talathi. Instead, the report established that the child’s cause of death was asphyxiation by smothering. Furthermore, the report showed the child’s stomach was empty, which contradicted Gupta’s account of feeding her daughter prior to the fatal incident.
On June 30, Miami-Dade authorities issued an arrest warrant with the charge of first-degree murder. As a result, the U.S. Marshals Oklahoma City Metro Fugitive Task Force and the Oklahoma City Police Department arrested the defendant at a residence close to NW 150th Street and Santa Fe Avenue.
Gupta had been involved in a custody battle with her ex-husband, who had no idea the defendant had left the state with their daughter.
In May, the defendant was ordered to undergo a psych evaluation, reported News 9.
Gupta was a doctor with OU Health and is currently being extradited to Miami-Dade County.
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