Police say medical findings did not match a drowning in a backyard pool.
EL PORTAL, Fla. — A newly released 911 call records an Oklahoma pediatrician telling a dispatcher her 4-year-old daughter was “at the bottom of the pool” at a rental home near Miami, a death investigators say was staged as an accident and has led to a murder charge.
The call, made in the early hours of June 27, 2025, is now central to a case that has stretched from South Florida to Oklahoma City and back again. Detectives say the child, Aria Talathi, did not drown and was likely dead before she was placed in the water. Her mother, Dr. Neha Gupta, is jailed in Miami-Dade County without bond as prosecutors pursue the upgraded charge and prepare for trial.
In the audio obtained by local media, Gupta tells the dispatcher she woke up after hearing a noise and found her daughter in the pool behind the short-term rental on Northwest 90th Street. “I tried to get her out,” Gupta says, adding that she does not know how to swim. The dispatcher asks whether anyone else is there to help. “No, it’s just both of us here… It’s just me,” Gupta replies. As the call continues, the dispatcher presses for simple answers about the child’s condition. “Is she awake, yes or no?” the dispatcher asks. “No, she’s at the bottom of the pool,” Gupta responds. The dispatcher urges her to use a pole or any tool to reach the child and pull her toward the shallow end as rescue crews head to the home.
Police later arrived and pulled the girl from the deep end, authorities have said. First responders began CPR and the child was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center, where she was pronounced dead at 4:28 a.m. Investigators say the medical findings that followed did not support a drowning. A medical examiner found the child’s lungs and stomach did not contain water, and noted injuries inside the mouth and bruising that detectives said were not consistent with CPR. The preliminary assessment, described in court records and investigative summaries, said the injuries appeared consistent with smothering and that the child was likely already dead before being placed in the pool.
The case quickly moved from a reported accident to a homicide investigation. Miami-Dade authorities say Gupta and her daughter traveled from Oklahoma City and were the only occupants at the rental, based on surveillance video and booking records. Detectives also said Gupta shared custody of Aria with her ex-husband, Dr. Saurabh Talathi, and that there was an ongoing custody dispute in Oklahoma. Investigators said the father told them he was unaware the child had been taken out of state. A neighbor interviewed after the death questioned how a young child could have been outside in the middle of the night, calling the situation alarming.
Gupta’s lawyers have disputed the state’s theory. Defense attorney Michael Mirer has said the child’s death was an accident and argued investigators “rushed to judgment.” In earlier court hearings, Mirer said Gupta did not intentionally harm her daughter and that the child got out through a door and fell into the pool. The defense has pointed to Gupta’s statements that she tried to help but could not swim and to the panic captured on the 911 call. Prosecutors, meanwhile, have pointed to the medical findings and what they call inconsistencies in Gupta’s account, including questions about the child’s last meal and the timeline leading up to the emergency call.
The criminal case has also had professional fallout for Gupta. Her former employer, OU Health and the University of Oklahoma, said in a joint statement in 2025 that she was suspended from patient care, given notice of termination, and was no longer seeing patients as of May 30, 2025. Investigators in Florida obtained a warrant after consulting with prosecutors, authorities said. Miami-Dade detectives traveled to Oklahoma City with the help of local police and federal marshals to take her into custody, then brought her back to South Florida as the case moved through bond hearings and charging decisions.
Charging decisions have shifted over time. Gupta was initially booked on a first-degree murder allegation in 2025 as investigators argued the “drowning” was staged. In August 2025, prosecutors told a judge they were pursuing a lesser manslaughter count, saying in open court they believed that charge could be proved. Months later, the case moved back toward a more serious count, and by February 2026 local outlets reported the allegation had been upgraded again to second-degree murder. Court records and jail records have listed Gupta as being held without bond as the case proceeds.
In El Portal, a small village north of Miami, the death has remained a point of conversation because it began as a frantic late-night call and ended with a child’s funeral and a mother in jail. The 911 dispatcher’s repeated instructions to “try to get her out of the water” now sit alongside investigators’ claim that the child was already dead. Prosecutors have not laid out a detailed motive in public filings that have been widely summarized, but detectives have pointed to custody issues, travel records, surveillance video, and medical evidence as they build their case.
Gupta remains in custody in Miami-Dade County as attorneys prepare for upcoming hearings. The next major steps are expected to include continued pretrial proceedings, additional evidentiary filings, and scheduling decisions that will determine when jurors could hear the case.
Author note: Last updated February 25, 2026.