Oklahoma pediatrician Neha Gupta is once again facing a murder charge in connection with the death of her 4-year-old daughter while on vacation in Miami, just a week after prosecutors said they would be pursuing a manslaughter charge.
Yet another reversal of course from the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office, as it appears prosecutors are aligned with the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office narrative that Gupta, 36, killed her daughter Aria and made it look like a drowning. Her lawyers call this newest change in her case a mess.
“It is really baffling how [state prosecutors] are waffling,” said Richard Cooper, Gupta’s attorney. “Now they are saying it was an intentional killing? Something stinks.”
READ MORE: Doctor accused of killing daughter on Miami visit no longer faces murder charge
On Wednesday, Gupta’s manslaughter charge was amended to second-degree murder, a higher charge that effectively accuses her of intentionally killing her daughter without premeditation — marking the second time the state attorney’s office has changed her charge.
Following Aria’s death in the pre-dawn hours of June 27, the sheriff’s office filed an arrest warrant under a first-degree murder charge. On Aug. 6, prosecutors decided not to pursue that charge and instead filed for aggravated manslaughter.
At the time, the state attorney’s office said, “Based on the evidence presently available to prosecutors, the 1st degree felony charge of aggravated manslaughter of a child has been deemed as the appropriate criminal charge.”
About an hour before Gupta’s amended second degree murder charge was filed, Cooper said he gave the state attorney’s office notice that he would be entering a motion for her to be released from jail.
Cooper still believes the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office and Medical Examiner’s Office are rushing to judgment due to “enormous pressure” by Aria’s family, an urgency that has made its way to state prosecutors.
“[Prosecutors] at one point said she failed to properly secure a bolt, which was essentially them saying they agree with the defense that the poor girl died by accident,” he said. “Now they’re going back to murder?”
Despite the back-and-forth, Cooper is adamant that Gupta’s defense strategy has remained unchanged.
“Dr. Gupta’s defense remains the same; they can charge whatever they want,” he said. “She is innocent. She did not kill her child and took all available measures to protect her. It was a tragic and random accident.”
Murder or accidental drowning?
In late June, Gupta and Aria traveled to South Florida on a vacation, staying in a short-term Airbnb rental in El Portal, just north of Miami city limits.
The pair, from Oklahoma, spent June 27 relaxing on the beach and riding personal watercrafts before returning to the rental in the early evening. During the overnight hours, Gupta told law enforcement that she awoke to a noise and saw Aria no longer in bed, according to an arrest warrant.
MORE: Doctor staged drowning to cover up daughter’s murder during Miami vacation: MDSO
She found the sliding glass door open and Aria submerged in the pool. She said she could not swim and spent 10 minutes trying to save her before calling 911.
Several of Gupta’s accounts of the night are being refuted by authorities and the public.
Dr. Tuyet Tran, a medical examiner for Miami-Dade, ruled out drowning in her autopsy as she did not find water in Aria’s lungs or stomach — instead, she discovered bruises inside her cheeks and cuts in her mouth.
Those findings suggested Aria died of asphyxiation, likely smothered, before being placed in the pool, the warrant read. Investigators concluded that Gupta, as the parent caring for Aria at the time, caused her death and staged accidental drowning.
Her autopsy has not been publicly released.
Social media has also questioned Gupta’s claim that she could not swim, which is why she didn’t immediately try to rescue her daughter.
In a YouTube interview, which centered on Gupta discussing a research paper, she shared an anecdote about her love of swimming-intensive hobbies.
“I love adventure sports... I love scuba diving, snorkeling and skydiving,” she said. “It has been a lot of fun.”
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