The Oklahoma pediatrician accused of drowning her 4-year-old daughter in Florida was hiding from law enforcement in a laundry room when they raided her home earlier this month.
Dramatic body camera video released by the Oklahoma City Police Department on Wednesday shows officers and US Marshals agents outside the Oklahoma City home of Neha Gupta on July 1 demanding she come to the door and surrender.
“Neha Gupta, come to the front door. Do it now,” a US Marshal shouts. “US Marshals. We have a warrant for your arrest. Come to the front door. Do it now.”
Despite demands from law enforcement, the alleged child killer refused to open the door — forcing them to bust it open.
After making entry, officers began clearing the home and were seen passing a child’s toy set in the living room while searching for the 36-year-old suspect.
With their guns drawn, the video shows a US Marshal agent sliding open the laundry room door, finding Gupta tucked away in a dark corner.
“Hands! Hands! Come out!” an officer yells at the mother, before she’s pulled out of the laundry, placed on the ground and cuffed.
Gupta was then led out of her home through the garage.
The arrest warrant was carried out days after she allegedly killed her 4-year-old daughter, Aria Talathi, while on vacation with her in Miami.
The mother and daughter were staying at a short-term rental on June 27 when Gupta called 911 at around 3:30 a.m. to report an accidental drowning.
When first responders arrived, Talathi was found still in the pool and unresponsive. She was rushed to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center, where she was pronounced dead about an hour after the 911 call.
Gupta claimed to have been woken at 3:20 a.m. to an “unidentified noise” in the backyard and found her daughter in the pool, adding that she couldn’t swim but tried to rescue her for about 10 minutes before calling for help.
However, an autopsy later found no water in Talathi’s lungs or stomach, but she was found with injuries in her mouth and cheeks, suggesting she died from “asphyxiation by smothering.”
The medical examiner concluded the 4-year-old had likely died before being placed in the pool.
It was also noted that her stomach was empty, which contradicted Gupta’s claim that they had eaten dinner at 9 p.m. when she voluntarily came to the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office headquarters that same day and gave her recorded statement with her attorney.
The finding was enough for Miami homicide detectives to be granted a warrant for her arrest.
Gupta had already returned to her home when it was granted, prompting Miami-Dade police detectives to travel to the Sooner State and — with the help of the Oklahoma City Police Department’s Homicide Unit and the US Marshals — track down Gupta and arrest her.
Following her arrest, she was extradited back to Florida and is currently being held without bond at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, Local 10 News reported.
She is expected to return to court for her Florida arraignment hearing on Aug. 7.
Prior to Gupta allegedly murdering her daughter, investigators found that she was fired from her job at Oklahoma Children’s Hospital and was in the midst of a bitter custody battle with her ex-husband.
The couple filed for divorce in 2022, with it being finalized in an Oklahoma court in 2024. However, a judge denied Gupta’s request for sole custody of their child.
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