Bodycam: Pediatrician Hides After Allegedly Staging Daughter's Death in Pool

Nha Gupta, come to the front door. Do it. now. >> Contact on the ground. Come here. >> Newly released body cam footage captures. the moments that US marshals find. Oklahoma pediatrician Dr. Nha Gupta. hiding in a laundry room days after her. four-year-old daughter was found dead in. a Florida pool. While Gupta claims her. daughter's death was an accidental. drowning, police say it was staged and. that she killed her child. I'll be. speaking with the veteran detective to. break down all the details from the. explosive body cam footage to autopsy. contradictions and red flags in a bitter.

custody battle. Welcome to Sidebar. presented by Law and Crime. I'm. Elizabeth Milner in for Jesse Weber. Before I get into the story, I want to. make a quick announcement. Law and Crime. needs your help. We want to create. something new for our viewers, something. that you'll love and you'll enjoy. We. want to make sure that what we create is. based on your opinion and your voice. So, we've created a short survey to get. your feedback, and we'll be selecting 10. people at random who took the survey to. get a free Lawn Crime T-shirt. If you. want your voice to be heard, please.

check out the survey and let us know. your thoughts. The link is in the. description and pinned comment. Chilling. new body camera footage is shedding the. light on the dramatic moments that US. Marshalss arrested Dr. Nha Gupta, the. Oklahoma pediatrician now accused of. killing her four-year-old daughter and. what authorities believe was a stage. drowning down in Florida. The footage. obtained by Lawn Crime shows officers. forcing their way into Gupta's Oklahoma. home before finding her hiding in a. laundry room just days after her. daughter Arya was discovered dead in a. Miami area pool. The 36-year-old remains.

behind bars in Miami Dade County. awaiting arraignment in August on a. charge of firstdegree murder. In that. newly released footage, officers can be. heard repeatedly announcing their. presence and demanding Gupta come to the. door. But when no one responds, they. enter the home. >> Police with a warrant. Open the door. We're doing it now. >> Come to the door. >> Turn around. Come off the bridge. [Applause].

>> Na, come to the front door. Do it now. >> US Marshals, we have a warrant for your. arrest. Come to the front door. Do it. now. We saw.

Watch the inside.

[Music].

We got y'all's light over here. >> Wraps around us. >> Want us to move up? You got. We are inside. >> Okay. So, no sign of Dr. Gupta. So, they. check the closets, the garage, and the. locked doors. >> Clear the closet. [Music]. >> Clear.

>> Okay. It does kind of come back around. So, just hold what you got there. all the way down the hallway. >> Does that go after the garage right. there? >> Yeah. >> Hey, we're going to clear this garage. So, back up a little bit, will you? >> Okay. Locked.

Go ahead and open that. [Music].

You ready? I'm ready. [Music].

N. what's on. or something. >> Still not. targeting. these doors.

[Applause]. [Music]. >> All right. So, still no sign of her. until. >> hands. Hey, come on. Contact on the. ground. Come here. All right. Keep clear of the rest of us.

and get her out. >> She hasn't been check. You want to help me? >> Gupta is then taken into custody without. incident. Her arrest followed the. release of an autopsy report that. suggested that her daughter didn't. drown, but may have been smothered, leaving investigators to believe the. scene was staged to cover up a homicide. You know what doesn't belong in your. summer plans? getting burned by your old.

wireless bill. With our sponsor, Mint, you can get the same great coverage and. speed that you're used to, but for a. fraction of the cost. Seriously, all of. Mint's plans come with high-speed data. and unlimited talk and text delivered on. the nation's largest 5G network, just. without all the surprise inflated cost. Plus, right now, Mint Mobile is running. a killer summer promo. Three months of. unlimited premium wireless service for. just 15 bucks a month. While your. friends are sweating over data overages. and surprise charges, you'll be chilling.

with high-speed data, unlimited talk and. text, and zero headaches. You might be. sitting there thinking, "Okay, well, how. do I switch? That seems so complicated.". Well, Mint knows their customers have. their whole lives stored on their. phones, so they make the switch. ridiculously easy. You can keep your. same phone, keep your same number, and. bring all your contacts with you with no. complicated loopholes in the process. Just swap out your old SIM for the Mint. SIM and you're good to go. It's. reliable, fast, and can save you. hundreds once you make the switch from. your old provider. This year, skip. breaking a sweat and breaking the bank.

Get this new customer offer and your. 3-month unlimited wireless plan for just. 15 bucks a month at mint.com/sidebar. Again, that's mint.com/sidebar. Upfront payment of $45 required, equivalent to $15 a month. Limited time. customer offer for three months only. Speeds may slow above 35 gigabytes on. unlimited plan taxes and fees extra. See. Mint Mobile for details. After her. arrest in Oklahoma, Gupta was extradited. to Florida where she made her first.

court appearance on July 18th. Prosecutors pushed for her to be held. without bond, arguing the evidence. points to a deliberate act. But Gupta's. defense attorney pushed back, claiming. that the child's death was a tragic. accident. >> It appears that uh there was a trag. tragic accident that occurred on June. 27th. There was nothing within the four. corners of this affidavit that indicate. that if anything that this was. premeditated. >> Gupta's attorney also argued that the. premeditated murder charge was. premature. >> Our concern, judge, is that this was a. rush to judgement. There was no official.

cause and matter of death. And here we. are where the state uh files a an arrest. warrant for first-degree murder and is. asking my client to be held without. bond. But the judge pointed to the. medical examiner's findings, which seems. to contradict Dr. Gupta's account of. what happened that night. >> Her lungs were dry, indicating she did. not she did not drown. So for purposes. of this probable cause hearing, there is. probable cause. In addition, she waited.

10 minutes before she purportedly called. 911 for help. >> Gupta was ultimately denied bond. But if. you're just now catching up on the case, let's walk through everything we've. learned so far based on the arrest. warrant. According to authorities, at. around 3:41 a.m. on June 27th, police. were called to a rental home in. Elportalau, Florida, after Dr. Nha Gupta. reported that her four-year-old daughter. had drowned. When first responders. arrived, Gupta led them to the backyard. pool where they made a devastating. discovery. The warrant reads, "Officers. observed at here and after referred to.

as the deceased victim unresponsive and. submerged in the deep end of the. swimming pool. MDFR personnel extracted. the deceased victim from the pool and. began cardopulmonary resuscitation. MDFR. transported the deceased victim to. Jackson Memorial Hospital where despite. all life-saving measures, the victim was. pronounced deceased at 4:28 a.m. Gupta. voluntarily agreed to an interview with. investigators. She told investigators. that she and her daughter were sleeping. in the same bed, but she woke up around. 3:20 a.m. and realized her daughter was.

missing. She claimed that the sliding. glass door in the bedroom leading to the. pool had somehow been opened. The. warrant reads, "The subject stated prior. to sleeping, she checked all the sliding. glass doors at the residence." The. subject stated that she then observed. the deceased victim submerged underwater. within the swimming pool of the. residence. The subject stated that she. attempted to remove the victim from the. pool. However, she was unsuccessful due. to the fact that she was unable to swim. The subject stated she attempted for. approximately 10 minutes to assist the.

deceased victim before contacting. emergency services. But investigators. say the autopsy told a very different. story and a more troubling story. On. June 29th, a medical examiner with Miami. Dade County performed an autopsy on. Arya. The results sharply contradicted. Dr. Gupta's version of events. The. warrant reads, "Dr. Tran advised that. the deceased victim's lungs and stomach. did not contain water and was considered. dry." Dr. Dr. Tran also advised that. based on these findings, she was unable. to rule out drowning as being a cause of. death. Furthermore, Dr. Tran discovered.

cuts within the mouth and bruising. within the cheeks of the deceased. victim's face. Dr. Tran confirmed this. type of trauma is not consistent with. any life-saving efforts, which were. performed on the deceased victim by. medical personnel. And the most chilling. detail, in Dr. Trans opinion, the. deceased victim was diseased prior to. being placed into the swimming pool. While the official cause and manner of. death remain pending further studies, the doctor's preliminary findings are. the injuries are consistent with. asphyxiation by smothering. Dr. Gupta.

was formerly charged with first-degree. murder under Florida statute, which is. defined as quote the unlawful killing of. a human being when perpetrated from a. premeditated design to affect the death. of the person killed or any human being. So, what about Arya's father and why. were they in Florida in the first place? According to the arrest warrant, Gupta. told police she shared custody with her. ex-husband, but detectives quickly. discovered he had no idea that they had. traveled out of state. The warrant. reads, "The subject shares custody of.

the deceased victim with her ex-husband, who did not travel with the subject and. the deceased victim to Miami, Florida, and was unaware that the deceased victim. had left the state of Oklahoma. According to Dr. Tathy. There is an. ongoing custody battle within the state. of Oklahoma over the victim's care. between himself and the subject. Court. documents reveal that Dr. Gupta and her. ex-husband Dr. Tathy were locked in a. bitter and prolonged custody fight. In. fact, just months before Arya's death, Dr. Chilathy had been awarded temporary. soul custody by an emergency order. That.

finding reads, "The court finds as. follows, that temporary soul custody is. awarded to the petitioner. The court. finds that an emergency exists and that. the respondent will continue to. interfere with medical treatment of the. minor child. As a part of that ruling, Dr. Gupta was ordered to turn over. vaccination records and disclose her. location. But there were even deeper. concerns about her behavior. Back in. April, Tathy filed a motion asking for. the court to enforce a psychological. evaluation of Dr. Gupta, pointing to.

what he described as disturbing behavior. that raised serious concerns about her. ability to safely care for their. daughter. In the court filing, he. detailed a pattern of emotional. instability and conflict, including. unreasonable positions on issues. concerning the child, unusual mood. swings, and erratic behavior raising. concern for the safety of the minor. child. Extreme conflict and. defensiveness with almost all persons. caring and providing insight for the. minor child to include family members of. the child, medical providers, counselors, and experts involved in this.

litigation. that respondent continues to. author false information to the minor. child's medical providers regarding. claims of domestic violence by the. petitioner and a restraining order that. has been previously denied by the court. He went on to say the respondant has put. the child's ability to receive medical. treatment at risk due to her. inappropriate behavior towards the. child's providers. That respondent's. behavior leads petitioner to believe. that respondent has mental health issues. that are not being treated. that an. evaluation of respondents mental health.

is crucial to ensure the safety of the. minor child. Regarding Arya's death, Dr. Niha Gupta through her attorney. maintains her innocence. In an interview. with Florida's My Journal Corer, Richard. Cooper, one of Dr. Gupta's lawyers, described the murder charges as absurd. In a statement to several media outlets, Cooper said, quote, "We are disappointed. that the Miami date sheriff's office. succumbed to pressure and rushed to. judgment. As a result, a grieving mother. who just lost her daughter is in jail. We look forward to a full investigation. that will uncover the truth. In a.

separate statement to the Miami Herald, Cooper added, quote, Dr. Gupta fully. cooperated with law enforcement and. provided multiple consistent statements. instead of conducting a thorough. investigation, including additional. autopsies and toxicology analysis. The. MDSO chose to pursue a warrant for a. grieving mother facing the unimaginable. We look forward to all the facts coming. to light. I'm joined by veteran. Detective Eric Barnes. Detective Barnes, now you saw this body cam. What's your. reaction to it?

>> You know, my first reaction uh to the. body cam was, you know, why wouldn't she. come to the door? >> Right. >> And not only not only uh did she not. come to the door, uh you know, she she. hid in the closet. So, that it's a. pretty good indicator of of guilt. >> Yeah. And I agree, too, cuz I'm like, if. they're knocking on the door, you're. saying it's an accident. You're claiming. it's an accident. It's just horrible. overall thinking that, you know, her. child might have allegedly been. smothered by her herself. It's just hard. to imagine and you would think if she's. going to try to keep up this facade, she.

would have at least just came to the. door or the body cam or the reaction to. her arrest might have just been a little. bit different. But overall, do you think. just kind of looking at the case that. this was premeditated? When I took a look at the case, you. know, one of the things that stuck out. to me immediately was that um, you know, the initial claim that the child drowned. while the mother was asleep. And so, you. know, you look into was this a case of. neglect where or was it just an. accident? Did the kid sneak out of the.

bed and go into the backyard while mom. was unaware, but then when the medical. examiner said there was no no presence. of uh water in her lungs, you know, that's a pretty telltale sign that. there's more going on. Yeah. And just. thinking about it because obviously um. you know these are just allegations at. this stage. So we have to say allegedly, but just thinking about the allegations. overall of allegedly smothering your own. child and then trying to cover it up and. then tossing your child away kind of. like trash into a pool in a rented home.

over in Florida when you're from. Oklahoma. It just seems like there's so. many factors and layers that kind of. lean towards, you know, the right charge. that being first-degree murder. Now, her. attorney says that this was an. overcharge that authorities rushed to. judgment. Then the judge kind of brought. back this whole like aspect of that. there was no food found in her. daughter's body. There was no water. indicating a whole drowning situation. But what are your thoughts um overall. just about kind of the layers and um I. should say the um the layers that she.

did to kind of cover this up allegedly. My thoughts, you know, as an. investigator is, you know, you only can. work with what the facts that you have. You know, you try to find the facts and. then once you get the facts, you kind of. lay them out and you go with where the. facts lead you. And I think in this. investigation, the one thing that's. overwhelming is that there there's a. story behind the story. You know, um the. initial account of what the mother gave. doesn't match with the scientific. evidence behind it. So, you know, there.

to my knowledge there was no one else. present um at the time. So, it's just. mom and and daughter. So, someone's not. being honest. And and I think that, you. know, there's a lot of uh a lot of room. for it could have been an accident, but. if it's an accident, why do we go. through this dramatic uh storyline, right? >> You know, so there's a lot of questions. left unanswered. >> Yeah. And then the other layer to this. is the whole custody aspect to this case. and the fact that um the daughter's.

father that um he was awarded temporary. coul custody of the child all of that. sort but in terms of just that this the. motive might have been this whole. custody battle. What do you think of. that? I know that you know it's not. uncommon especially for us at long crime. to see these types of things happen but. I think adding that you know she was she. was in a highly respected field. she was. a doctor and then this custody battle. was going on and then her daughter ends. up dead allegedly at her hands. What are. your thoughts overall about that extra. added layer of the whole custody aspect?

>> I think anytime you had you bring the. family dynamic into these. investigations, everything is just so uh. it's very touchy. Um especially dealing. with all the emotions that go on and you. know typically people will only show you. what they want to show you. You never. know what goes on behind closed doors. I'm sure families and friends were. probably surprised by this. You just. never really know what is truly going on. and and or was going through an. individual's head at the time that uh.

you know a custody battle was going on. >> and kind of going into the overall. investigation and kind of seeing how the. aspects of the body cam kind of lean. into that. Talk to me a little bit about. when officers first get the call that. there might be a homicide investigation. going on. they have a suspect that's at. their home and how does that all work in. terms of the response um when trying to. find their or trying to find and. apprehend their suspect? >> You know, police officers respond to a. large variety of calls, but one of the.

most difficult calls that you will ever. respond to is a call involving a child. death. You know there's death in itself. is is a part of life but when a child is. dead you know something unnatural about. that and it taps into the personal side. of officers you know most officers are. parents themselves so to see a young. child laying there deceased it just puts. you in the mind frame of what if that. was your child and so it's just. something that kind of goes with you but. you it also makes you want to do. everything right you don't want to make.

any mistakes obviously something that if. some there is foul play that could cause. the case to be jeopardized, but also you. want to show sympathy as well to the. parents that are at the scene. So, it's. just a really tough situation. >> Yeah. Cuz I can imagine that officers. initially were, you know, probably. empathetic and sympathetic towards her. until, you know, more layers were kind. of peeled back and more um evidence was. kind of coming to light. And in terms of. just the response and um whether or not. officers are, you know, have the.

discretion to use force entry as opposed. to just kind of door knocking, how does. that all work? Especially when you have. a situation like this where Dr. Gupta. was hiding in her own home and then. officers are calling out for her and she. doesn't come to the door or anything. like that. When is that kind of decision. made to just enter the home versus kind. of waiting around to see if the suspect. will actually come forward? Well, that decision is made like long. before you even get to the house. Um, typically in the pre-planning of the. warrant, you sit in in the boardroom and.

kind of draw up contingency plans and if. A doesn't happen, we're going with B. B. doesn't happen, we go with C. And I. think in this situation, officers. approach the door. They obviously had on. uh, you know, warrant vest. They had. their heavy uh, plate carriers. They had. a ram and they had their weapons out. So, at that point in time, they they. very loudly announced US Marshalss. And, you know, I think she was aware that, hey, they're they're here. They're not. here to do an interview. You know, they.

have they're here to take me in custody. And I think I heard one of the officers. say, I saw her and she walked, you know, in a different direction. So, that was a. clear indicator that she was not going. to be complying. >> Right. And it's hard to believe too that. it's like she didn't hear what was going. on or she, you know, wasn't aware that, you know, officers and authorities were. um kind of coming into her home because. I can only imagine how loud that could. be. So, it's kind of hard to, you know, deny, deny, deny in these types of. situations and being the one who's been.

in those interrogation rooms and doing. those police interviews. How much. discrepancy is it when it comes to kind. of drafting that initial probable cause. in terms of you're listening to, you. know, the mother, not yet the suspect, kind of talk about what had happened and. then, you know, you're peeling back. those layers and then you find out, okay, well, the medical examiner's. findings were a little bit different. than what you were telling me in the. police interview. How does that part all. work, especially um in the initial. stages of an investigation like this? You know, in the initial stages, the one.

thing that you have to lean on is is. more of like a hunch. You know, like a. feeling in your gut where something just. isn't right. You know, typically you try. not to rely on that too much because it. could mislead you. Or it could be that. you're right, something is off, but it. may be, you know, a minor detail. So, what you do, you just collect, like I. said, you collect facts. Uh you trust. your gut instinct and you continue to. ask, you know, questions that will kind. of probe for the answers that you're. looking for. And then once the medical. examiner finds makes their findings and. releases their report, you just kind of.

sit back and you analyze everything all. at once and see um if everything adds. up. >> And in terms of just how kind of I don't. want to say the words unique, but in. terms of this case kind of varying. across um different state lines. Um the. murder happened in Florida, but they the. family lives in Oklahoma. How does that. all work in terms of just like um. working with detectives from a different. state and kind of coordinating the. investigation and relying on you know. each other to get the information. correct and right. How does that all. work? Especially because again they live. in Oklahoma but um this murder happened.

in um Florida. >> It takes a lot of uh pre-planning and. coordination. Um obviously the. detectives in Florida um you know are. bound by uh jurisdictional duties in. Florida. So you have to coordinate a lot. with authorities in Oklahoma. So. typically when you have an arrest that. needs to take place, the US Marshalss. are going to be the first ones to get a. call. They have arrest powers across all. the US territories. So they will be the. lead in in carrying that out. And it.

really takes a lot of trust. You know, uh being a detective, you want to be. hands-on and you obviously want to be. the one to put cuffs on. You want to see. the physical reaction from your suspect. and also be there to hear anything that. she may say. you know, any kind of. excited utterances that she may make. that may help you with your case. But. it's it's kind of hard to do that when. you know, you're several hours away and. you just have to trust the detectives. that are in the area that working with. you. And. >> I'm sure there was a rush to solve this. um case too, given that a young child.

died um as well. And given that um you. know you work in law enforcement and. you've done a bunch of different. investigations, homicide investigations. too, how common have you seen it or um. how often have you seen it where you see. a mother accused of murdering their. child but then staging it to make it. look like an accident? How often have. you seen that in your line of work? >> Well, you know, this is actually the. first time I've come across a mother um. being involved with staging a crime. scene. I think one of the things that. stood out to me in this case was the.

fact that it was in a separate state. They were down in Florida and the fact. that she was a professional and so being. a doctor, having that background, being. involved with this, you know, someone. with the professional background, you. spend so much time and effort into uh. you know, becoming a doctor that you. know for you to throw it all away. And. you know, typically people will jump. into protection mode once they uh are. involved in something serious. They try. to cover their tracks. And so that's. pretty typical. Um, I also think that.

also what made it so dangerous when the. marshals were knocking at her door. You. don't know what kind of thought process. she's going through. The mother that's. grieving after the loss of her child, whether she's responsible or not, you. just never know what state of mind she's. in. And now you knock on the door, she. obviously knows you're there to do more. than talk to her. She goes in a room. and, you know, locks herself in a room. So, it's just a lot of very touchy. situations. >> Yeah. And of course, we'll continue to. follow this case and continue to see how. this all continues to play out. Detective Eric Barnes, I want to thank.

you so much for your time and your. insight into this case. Before we sign. you off, is there anything else you. would like to add? What do you think the. next steps are going to be in this case? >> I believe uh I believe the defense. attorney kind of laid the tracks on on. which direction they're going to go. He. already hinted to the fact of the police. overreacting and making a reach with. charging her with murder. And he and he. also brought up the fact that she had. never had uh any arrest. >> And so I think that he's going to say, "Hey, before we rush to judgment on this.

case, let's see what facts the police. have." So I think he's going to. challenge their facts very heavy. And I. think that from the law enforcement. aspect, a lot of their investigation is. going to be sciencebased. >> And we'll see how that all continues to. play out, too. Again, Detective Eric. Barnes, thank you so much for your time. and your insight into this case. I. really appreciate it. >> All right. No problem. According to the. Miami Dade criminal court records, Dr. Gupta is scheduled to return to court. for her arraignment on August 7th. In. the meantime, she remains in custody. without bond. If convicted of.

first-degree murder, she faces life in. prison or potentially the death penalty. Well, that does it for this episode of. Sidebar. Be sure to subscribe to us. anywhere you get your podcast, whether. it's YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or. Spotify. I'm Elizabeth Milner filling in. for Jesse Weber, and this has been. Sidebar presented by Law and Crime. [Music].