NOT ADDING UP: Pediatrician is accused of staging daughter’s accidental death

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From NBC News: An Oklahoma pediatrician was accused of murder after, authorities said, she staged her daughter’s accidental death at a vacation rental in suburban Miami, court records obtained Thursday show.

Dr. Neha Gupta, 36, was arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder in Oklahoma City and is awaiting extradition to Florida in the June 27 death of her daughter, the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

The 4-year-old girl, identified in an affidavit in support of an arrest warrant as A.T., was found unresponsive in a pool at the home, but her lungs and stomach contained no water, prompting authorities to rule out drowning as the cause of death.

According to the affidavit, Gupta claims to have arrived at the rental with her daughter between 7
and 8 p.m. on June 26 after spending the day at the beach. She awoke the 4-year-old to feed her dinner at 9 p.m., but the girl remained awake until 12:30 a.m.

Gupta awoke at 3:20 a.m. to find the sliding glass door to the patio was open and her daughter missing from their bed. She looked outside and saw her daughter in the pool. She attempted to rescue her, but she can’t swim so she called 011 – but it took her 10 minutes to make the call.

A.T. passed away at 4:28 a.m. at a nearby hospital. An autopsy revealed that her lungs and stomach were dry, indicating she had died before entering the water.

Preliminary findings suggest asphyxiation by smothering, but the exact cause and manner of death remain unknown. The autopsy also revealed an empty stomach, which contradicted Gupta’s claim of feeding her at 9 p.m.

Gupta’s motive for the murder remains unclear, but she was involved in a custody battle with her ex-husband when her daughter died, and he was unaware she’d left Oklahoma.

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