Oklahoma Pediatrician Arrested for Alleged Murder, Staged Drowning of 4-Year-Old in Florida

Dr. Neha Gupta, a 36-year-old pediatrician from Oklahoma, has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder for allegedly killing her 4-year-old daughter, Aria Talathi, during a family vacation in Florida. Authorities say Gupta smothered her daughter and staged the death to appear as an accidental drowning at an Airbnb rental in El Portal. The child was found unresponsive in the deep end of a swimming pool early on June 27, and despite emergency CPR and hospital efforts, she was pronounced dead. Investigators were suspicious of Gupta's account, especially after an autopsy revealed no water in the child's lungs, contradicting the drowning claim. Gupta fled back to Oklahoma following the incident, an act prosecutors interpret as an attempt to evade prosecution amid an ongoing custody dispute with her ex-husband, Dr. Saurabh Talathi. She is currently held without bond in Oklahoma County Jail while Florida authorities seek her extradition.