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

Investigators have charged Dr Neha Gupta, a paediatrician from Oklahoma City, with second-degree murder after her four-year-old daughter was found dead in a Florida rental pool in June 2025. Authorities say Neha allegedly tried to cover up the killing by staging it as an accidental drowning.

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.