Tried to save her: Indian-origin doctor charged in child's death, heard in 911 call

New Delhi,UPDATED: Feb 26, 2026 13:56 IST

Barely a year after an Indian-origin doctor was accused of killing her daughter and allegedly trying to cover it up by claiming it was a drowning, US authorities have released the 911 call she made when first reporting the incident.

In the call, Dr Neha Gupta can be heard saying, “I tried to get her out. We were sleeping and I heard some noise. She was in the pool. I tried to save her, but I don’t know how to swim. She went down in the pool.”

The 911 operator asked, “Can we find something to pull her out? Is there like a stick, like a pool stick, like if you’re cleaning out the pool? You need to try to get her out of the water.”

Neha also asked, “Do you know how far Emergency Medical Services (EMS) is?” The operator replied, “They’re on the way, they’re on the way, but you need to try to help her.”

Investigators in Miami-Dade County have formally charged Neha, a paediatrician from Oklahoma City, with second-degree murder following the death of her four-year-old daughter in June 2025 at a holiday rental in El Portal, Florida. The child was found unresponsive at the bottom of a pool, and initial reports had indicated an accidental drowning.

First responders arrived at the scene after Neha directed them to the backyard pool. Despite their efforts to resuscitate the child, she was pronounced dead after being transported to a local hospital. Neha told authorities that she and her daughter were visiting from Oklahoma and staying at the rental property.

According to an ABC6 report, Neha Gupta told Florida authorities that she and her daughter had travelled from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and were staying at a short-term rental.

Neha’s ex-husband, Dr Saurabh Talathi, said he was unaware that his daughter had left Oklahoma at the time and confirmed that the couple was in the middle of an ongoing custody dispute.

Saurabh said he was unaware that his daughter had been taken out of Oklahoma and added that the couple was engaged in an ongoing custody dispute.

On July 2, 2025, detectives from the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office Homicide Bureau arrested Neha after collecting evidence and conducting interviews related to the incident.

A police affidavit said that the child’s autopsy revealed that her lungs and stomach did not contain any water and were considered "dry" -- ruling out drowning as the cause of death.

The police affidavit also noted that the medical examiner observed cuts inside the child’s mouth and bruising on her cheeks, consistent with asphyxiation by smothering.

The autopsy findings contradicted Neha’s account of events. She had claimed that she and her daughter fell asleep around 12:30 am, and later woke to find Aria missing, saying the child got out of bed and fell into the pool. Officials, however, concluded that the daughter had died before being placed in the water.

The University of Oklahoma, where Neha worked as a physician, told CBS News Miami that she was removed from patient care duties and terminated from her role on May 30. An arrest document stated, Neha attempted to conceal the killing of the "deceased victim" by staging an accidental drowning within the swimming pool of a rental property.

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