An Oklahoma pediatrician is now facing a second-degree murder charge following accusations of drowning her 4-year-old daughter during a short-term rental stay in Miami-Dade County in Florida.
Investigators with the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office initially recommended a first-degree murder charge against Dr. Neha Gupta, 36, for the death of her daughter, Aria Talathi, earlier this summer. In early August, however, prosecutors were defending a lesser charge of aggravated manslaughter in the case.
But now, a week later, the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office is pursuing a more severe charge.
"With additional information supplied to prosecutors by the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner’s Office, the felony charge of second-degree murder has now been filed and will be litigated as the appropriate criminal charge," Lissette Valdes-Valle, a Miami-Dade state attorney spokeswoman, said in an email to The Oklahoman.
Spokespeople did not provide further explanation on what additional information the medical examiner's office had provided or how it led to the second-degree murder charge.
More: Pediatrician accused of staging 4-year-old daughter's death as drowning
About 3:40 a.m. June 27, officers with the Village of El Portal Police Department responded to a 911 call reporting a child drowning in the residential pool at an Airbnb north of Miami. Paramedics took the unresponsive child to Jackson Memorial Hospital, where Aria was pronounced dead just before 4:30 a.m., according to an arrest affidavit.
Gupta's Florida-based attorney, Michael Mirer, did not return requests for comment Friday, Aug. 15. According to News 9, Mirer appeared in court that day to enter a "not guilty" plea on Gupta's behalf. Her prior legal counsel had previously said the original recommendation of a first-degree murder charge was a "rush to judgment" by the sheriff's office.
Gupta initially told investigators she and her daughter had spent June 26 riding jet skis at the beach, had come back to the Airbnb to eat dinner, and had fallen asleep together shortly after midnight. She said she was awakened by a noise around 3:30 a.m. June 27 to find her daughter no longer with her in the bed and the sliding door leading to the outside patio unlocked and open, according to the arrest affidavit.
She said she then saw Aria submerged in the deep end of the pool but wasn't able to retrieve her because she can't swim, according to the affidavit. Gupta told investigators she tried to get the girl out of the pool for about 10 minutes before calling 911.
But an autopsy cited in that same affidavit said that the daughter's lungs and stomach were dry and empty. The medical examiner also said she believed Aria was dead before she was in the pool and found injuries consistent with asphyxiation by smothering, according to the affidavit.
Gupta's ex-husband, Dr. Saurabh Talathi, told investigators he was unaware Gupta and their daughter had left Oklahoma to travel to Florida.
Gupta worked as a licensed doctor specializing in pediatric care at Oklahoma Children's Hospital OU Health in Oklahoma City. She was terminated from her job there in late May.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma pediatrician faces murder charge after daughter dies in Miami
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