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Inset: Neha Gupta (Oklahoma City Police Dept.). Background: The Florida spot and excavation wherever Gupta's kid was recovered (KOCO).
A 36-year-old pediatrician from Oklahoma was arrested portion staying astatine a short-term Airbnb rental spot successful Florida for allegedly killing her 4-year-old girl — aft the kid was recovered floating successful a backyard excavation connected the premises successful what authorities judge was a staged effort to marque the decease look similar an accidental drowning.
Neha Gupta was taken into custody and charged with 1 number of first-degree execution implicit her daughter's death, tribunal records show.
According to a probable origin affidavit obtained by Law&Crime, officers with the El Portal Police Department and unit with Miami-Dade Fire and Rescue responded to a 911 telephone astatine astir 3:41 a.m. connected Friday, June 27, astir an unresponsive kid astatine a residence successful the 100 artifact of Northwest 90 Street, conscionable northbound of Miami.
Upon arriving, archetypal responders made interaction with Gupta, who instantly directed them to the backyard wherever they observed the kid "unresponsive and submerged successful the heavy extremity of the swimming pool." The kid was instantly extracted from the pool, and life-saving measures were attempted to resuscitate her.
The affidavit says medics "transported the 'deceased victim' to Jackson Memorial Hospital wherever contempt each live-saving measures, the unfortunate was pronounced deceased astatine 4:28 a.m."
Gupta was the biologic parent of the victim, and the 2 had traveled to Florida from Oklahoma 2 days earlier and had been the sole occupants astatine the Northwest 90 Street residence since their arrival, constabulary said.
Investigators soon learned that Gupta shared custody of the unfortunate with her ex-husband, besides a doctor, who did not cognize Gupta had taken their girl retired of Oklahoma. Making matters worse, the begetter of the unfortunate said determination was "an ongoing custody battle" implicit the kid betwixt himself and Gupta.
Hours aft her daughter's death, Gupta sat for a recorded interrogation with detectives portion accompanied by her attorney. She said she and the unfortunate arrived backmost astatine the rental spot astatine astir 7 p.m. connected Thursday, June 26, aft a "full time of riding pitchy skis" and "spending the time astatine the beach." Gupta said her girl was dormant erstwhile they arrived and she woke the kid up astatine 9 p.m. to devour dinner. The 2 past went to slumber successful the aforesaid furniture successful the maestro chamber astatine astir 12:30 a.m., per the affidavit.
"[Gupta] stated astatine astir 3:20 a.m., [she] was awakened by an unidentified sound and realized that [her daughter] was not connected the furniture oregon wrong the bedroom," the affidavit states. "[Gupta] said she past realized the solid sliding solid doorway located successful the bedroom, which leads to the extracurricular patio, was open. [Gupta] stated anterior to sleeping. she locked each the sliding solid doors astatine the residence. [Gupta] stated she past observed [her daughter] submerged underwater wrong the swimming excavation of the residence. [Gupta] stated she attempted to region the unfortunate from the pool: however, she was unsuccessful owed to the information that she is incapable to swim. [Gupta] stated she attempted for astir 10 minutes to assistance [her daughter] earlier contacting exigency services."
While the victim's decease whitethorn person appeared to beryllium a tragic drowning, an autopsy conducted connected Sunday determined that "the deceased victim's lungs and tummy did not incorporate h2o and was considered 'dry.'"
"[B]ased connected these findings, she was capable to regularisation retired drowning arsenic being a origin of death," the affidavit says.
The aesculapian examiner besides discovered cuts wrong the victim's rima and bruising wrong the cheeks of the child's face, neither of which were accordant with live-saving procedures.
"In [the aesculapian examiner's] opinion, the deceased unfortunate was deceased anterior to being placed into the swimming pool," constabulary wrote. "While the authoritative origin and mode of decease stay pending further studies, the doctor's preliminary findings are the injuries are accordant with asphyxiation by smothering.
The autopsy besides noted that the child's tummy was empty, contradicting what Gupta said astir them eating meal unneurotic that night.
Following the preliminary investigation, investigators said that the "totality of the circumstances" pointed to Gupta sidesplitting her girl and past attempting to "conceal the killing" by "staging an accidental drowning wrong the swimming pool."
Gupta is presently being held successful Oklahoma without enslaved arsenic she awaits extradition backmost to Florida.
OU Health and the University of Oklahoma issued a associated connection connected Wednesday saying that Gupta, arsenic of May 30, 2025, had been "suspended from diligent care, fixed announcement of termination, and was nary longer seeing patients." The assemblage had besides fixed her a "notice of termination."
Gupta's attorney, Richard L. Cooper, provided the pursuing connection to Oklahoma City CBS affiliate KWTV:
"I'm highly disappointed, aft speechmaking the flimsy apprehension warrant, that the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office would complaint a grieving parent with 1st grade murder. Dr. Gupta met with the constabulary and State Attorney's Office astatine our petition and was 100% cooperative with the investigation. Let's presume for a 2nd that my lawsuit is innocent: she has had the worst calamity imaginable hap and past she's locked up without enslaved and is missing her ain daughter's funeral. Common decency would dictate that a small much than 1 day's worthy of probe transpire earlier making specified a melodramatic move."
A tribunal day has not yet been scheduled for Gupta.
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