A 36-year-old Oklahoma pediatrician, Dr. Neha Gupta, was charged with murder in connection with her 4-year-old daughter’s death. She is accused of killing her daughter and then staging her drowning at an Airbnb pool.
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According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by Law & Crime, the incident occurred at around 3:41 a.m. on Friday. June 27. El Portal Police Department officers and Miami-Dade Fire and Rescue personnel responded to a call of an unresponsive child at a Northwest 90 Street residence.
Upon arrival, first responders met Gupta. She directed them to her daughter, who was “submerged in the deep end of a swimming pool” at the residence. After being transported to a local hospital, the child was pronounced dead.
It was discovered that Gupta, unbeknownst to her ex-husband, had taken the girl from Oklahoma to Florida. The two parents had been embroiled in an “ongoing custody battle” over the child.
In an interview with detectives, Gupta allegedly told them that they had arrived the previous day and had spent Thursday, June 26, undertaking various leisure activities. After going to sleep at around 12:30 a.m., following dinner, Gupta claimed she woke up at 3:20 a.m., and didn’t find her daughter in their bed or bedroom.
After discovering the glass sliding doors of their room opened, Gupta allegedly told detectives that she had found her daughter submerged in the pool. She wasn’t able to get her out of the pool because, according to her, she didn’t know how to swim.
Autopsy Findings
However, an autopsy conducted on Sunday, June 29, revealed that the 4-year-old’s lungs and stomach did not contain any water. Moreover, her stomach was also empty, which contradicted Gupta’s claims of them having dinner together.
Furthermore, cuts inside her mouth and bruises on her cheeks were discovered during the autopsy. As per the police, it appears that the child was already dead before being placed into the pool.
“While the official cause and manner of death remain pending further studies, the doctor’s preliminary findings are the injuries are consistent with asphyxiation by smothering,” the police added.
Dr. Neha Gupta was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. She is currently being held without bond, awaiting extradition to Oklahoma.
Gupta’s attorney, Richard L. Cooper, called his client’s arrest “flimsy” in a statement shared with CBS News.
“I’m extremely disappointed, after reading the flimsy arrest warrant, that the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office would charge a grieving mother with 1st degree murder,” Cooper said. “Dr. Gupta met with the police and State Attorney’s Office at our request and was 100% cooperative with the investigation. “