An Oklahoma pediatrician has been charged with first-degree murder after allegedly staging the death of her 4-year-old daughter to appear as a drowning accident at a Florida vacation rental, according to law enforcement records.
Dr. Neha Gupta, 36, was arrested Tuesday and booked into the Oklahoma County Jail in Oklahoma City. The charges stem from an incident that took place on June 27 at an Airbnb in El Portal, just north of Miami, where Gupta was vacationing with her daughter, Aria.
Authorities allege she attempted to cover up the child’s death by making it appear as if she drowned in the property’s swimming pool. According to an affidavit from the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, Gupta told investigators she had been asleep with Aria when she awoke around 3:20 a.m. and noticed the sliding-glass door to the patio was open.
She claimed she found her daughter unresponsive in the deep end of the pool and tried to save her, despite not knowing how to swim. Emergency responders attempted CPR, but Aria was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital before dawn. However, an autopsy later revealed no water in the child’s lungs or stomach, KKTV reported.
Dr. Tuyet Tran, who conducted the examination, ruled out drowning and instead found bruising in Aria’s cheeks consistent with smothering. “These injuries are consistent with asphyxiation by smothering,” the affidavit states. Police say Gupta fled Florida for her home in Oklahoma City following the incident.
She is currently being held without bond as Florida authorities seek her extradition. Gupta’s attorney, Richard Cooper of Miami, strongly denies the allegations. “No one thought in a million years that she would be charged with murder,” Cooper said. “Her story made sense to me. It matched up. She voluntarily gave multiple statements to police, and they were always consistent.”
Cooper noted that Gupta had been making funeral arrangements at the time of her arrest. “I was in the car with her while she was calling funeral homes,” he said. “She’s a grieving mother, and now she’s missing her own daughter’s funeral from behind bars.” Court documents also revealed that Gupta and Aria’s father, her ex-husband, were in an ongoing custody battle.
He told police he was unaware they had traveled to Florida and had not given consent for the trip. Gupta was employed by Oklahoma Children’s Hospital and served as an assistant professor at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. The university has since suspended her from patient care and issued a notice of termination, though it has not commented on the reasons for her dismissal.