Law&Crime Sidebar - 'Killer' Pediatrician's Horrifying 911 Call Released

Episode Date: February 24, 2026

Newly released 911 audio captures the frantic moments when Oklahoma pediatrician Dr. Neha Gupta reported her four-year-old daughter at the bottom of a Florida rental home pool. But prosecutors allege the drowning was staged — pointing to autopsy findings that they say tell a very different story. Law&Crime’s Jesse Weber breaks down the critical moments in the call and what they could mean for the second-degree murder case.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW:Grow your own audience today – go to https://www.opus.pro/sidebar for 1 week free plus 50% off the first 3 months of Opus Pro. HOST:Jesse Weber: https://twitter.com/jessecordweberLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokeVideo Editing - Michael Deininger, Christina O'Shea, Alex Ciccarone, & Jay CruzScript Writing & Producing - Savannah Williamson & Juliana BattagliaGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrimeTwitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

She was in the pool. I tried to save her, but I don't know how to do this was. Newly released 911 audio reveals the frantic moments accused killer pediatrician Dr. Nihha Gupta, told dispatchers her four-year-old daughter was at the bottom of a pool, but investigators claim what she described as a drowning was something far more sinister. We are going to walk you through the critical moments of that call, a key piece of evidence minute by minute. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. By the way, if you're into content creation, if you're putting things out on social media,

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So we have been following the case of Dr. Niha Gupta for a while now. The Oklahoma pediatrician accused of murdering her four-year-old. old daughter, Aria, during what was supposed to be just a mother-daughter beach trip to Florida. A little girl found dead in a pool and a medical examiner who says she didn't drown, that she was actually dead before she ever even hit that water. That what happened in that backyard wasn't an accident, it was staged. That is the allegation that we are hearing from authorities. So now, what are we talking about?

We have just gotten our hands on something that we haven't. aired before. And I believe this is going to be a critical piece of evidence. The actual 911 call, the one that was placed by Gupta herself in the early morning hours of June 27, 2025. The call that she made while claiming that her daughter was drowning while first responders were racing to that rental home. And here's the thing, as you're listening to this, you'll hear things that knowing what we know now from the autopsy or seemingly what's being claimed from the autopsy from the investigation, they hit completely differently. So I want to play you a little bit of that for you right here and obviously we'll talk more about it. I found that sick, but I can't move her.

What can I do? You need to try to get her out, ma'am. Yeah, I'm trying. I'm going to go in and try to get her. Okay, yes, I need you to try to get in now. Try to get her out. Hmm. Yeah. So here's a what we know from the arrest warrant. Okay. And by the way, these are just allegations, but this is from authorities. Despite what you just heard her say there that she was going to go in and get her, she apparently told investigators later on she couldn't swim. That's why she couldn't pull her daughter out. So when you hear her say that she's going in, what exactly was the plan, right? That's just one moment. There are a lot more, and we're going to play it all out for you. I want to lay out what is being alleged, according to police, up until that 911 phone call.

Okay? So it starts in late June of 2025, Dr. Nihgupta, a pediatrician from Oklahoma, travels with her four-year-old daughter, Aria, to a short-term rental home in El Portal, Florida. It's a little town just outside of Miami. Now, on paper, it's supposed to be a mother-daughter beach getaway, quality time, a nice thing. But here is the first apparent red flag. And investigators would learn this later that Aria's father, Gupta's ex-husband, had no idea that they'd even left Oklahoma, no idea that his daughter was in another state. And that's important because the two of them were apparently in the middle of a brutal custody battle back home where Ari's father was even requesting for the court to order Gupta, Nihha Gupta, to submit to a psychological evaluation. And we're going to come back to that.

But we go now to the early morning hours, June 27, 2025, around 3.40 a.m., police and fire rescue, get called to that rental home. And the person who made that call, again, Dr. Nihgupta, she is reporting that her daughter has drowned in the pool. Let's listen. Miami Day Sheriff's Office. What's the address the emergency? Hi, this is the city of Miami doing a transfer. She said her daughter is at the bottom of the pool. She's on the line.

I can get her out. What? It's a house. Yes. Okay, tell me exactly what happened. So 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 sleep.

She went down on the pool. Okay. Is anyone able to get her out? No, it's just both of us here. It's an Airbnb. It's just too of, this is me. Just you? Okay.

Yeah. Okay. I tried my best to get it out. Okay, down the law with me here. And you're with the patient now. Is that correct? Yes. Okay, stand the line with me. I'm getting up on the way. One moment. One moment. How old is the daughter?

Four. Four years old? At this point, the dispatcher shifts gears. And she asks Gupta if there's a pool skimmer, something, anything that she can use to try and reach your daughter. Okay. Is there, anyway, is there like a, uh, uh, uh, Like with a pool stick? Like if you're cleaning out the pool? I don't know.

Let me check. Look on the wall or on the side. I'm not about a pool. You need to try to get her out of the water. Yeah. I'm sick. I don't see anything. It's very dark there.

Okay. Find something to see if you can try to pull her out with. Okay. Do you know how far is EMS or somebody who can get her? They're on the way, ma'am. They're on the way, but you need to try to help her. Find any way you can to try to get her out. out.

That's it, but I can't move her. What can I do? Is I even hearing? So the dispatcher then tries a different approach, and she needs to know exactly where in the pool Aria is, the shallow end, the deep end, three feet, six feet, because that changes everything about how first responders are going to approach this when they arrive. But what happens next, I have to tell you, is incredibly hard to listen to. Okay, what side of the pool is she on?

Is she in the three feet side? Is she in the six feet? What part? I think it's nine feet. I don't know how deep. There's no pressure there, but the pool is nine feet deeper. Okay. You need to try to get her out, ma'am.

Yeah, I'm trying. Do you know how long she's been inside the pool? What? Do you know how long she's been inside the pool? I don't know. I'm going to go in to try to get her. Okay, yes, I need you to try to get in. now you try to get her out okay did you I don't know how to flip okay can we find

something to try to pull her out with I'm being too if you can try to like pull her out or or push her out to the to the other side to the to the to the side that's not as deep so you can get her okay just keep trying I got help on the way how you doing Okay, the police is outside. Are they able to get inside the house to get to the baby? I'm going to open the door. Okay, go open the door.

Now, it may have been hard to hear, but at the very end, when the dispatcher asks again how long Ari has been in the pool, Gupta says she doesn't know. And then adds maybe 20 minutes, 20 minutes? That's a critical detail, because it becomes part of her state. to investigators. So police are now inside the home. They pull Aria from the pool. She's rushed to the hospital, but it's too late. She's pronounced dead at 4.28 a.m. That same day, Gupta voluntarily goes to the police station with her attorney, and she gives a statement. And her story matches what we heard on that call, that she was sleeping, woke up, found her daughter in the pool, tried to help, couldn't swim, called 911, but two days later, everything changes. Sunday, June 20, the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner performs the autopsy, and what she finds doesn't line up with a drowning at all. No water in Ari's lungs, according to this report, no water in her stomach, medically speaking, her lungs were dry, and that's not all.

There were also apparently cuts inside of Aria's mouth, bruising within her cheeks, injuries that the examiner says are not from CPR, not from rescue efforts. Her preliminary opinion, those injuries are consistent with asphyxiation by smothering. Her conclusion, Aria was already dead before she was ever placed in that pool. So on Monday, June 30th, based on those findings, an arrest warrant is issued for Nihha Gupta, first degree murder. But remember, Gupta's back in Oklahoma by now. So in July 1st, U.S. Marshals and Oklahoma City Police, they show up at her home to make the arrest. And that part, by the way, was captured on bodyworn camera.

Police will the water. We got jealous light over here. What's around it does? Yeah. You want us to move up and you got that. Just push and see it's on the twice. This closet. Clear the closet?

Is that all the hold? Uh-huh. Clear? Yes, it does. Kind of come back around so just hold what you get there. Fortunately, it can go all the way to in the hall over? Does that go out to the garage up here? Yep.

We're going to clear this garage, so back up a little bit way. Okay. Okay. Can lock. There's nothing to have it as all. contact. Contact. She has an in check.

Good. Or don't know. Don't know. You want to help them? Yeah, they find her in the laundry room, arguably hiding. I'm sure her defense counsel will say differently. but that's where they take her into custody. And I mentioned earlier that Gupta was initially charged with first-degree murder.

That wouldn't last. This is weird. So in the weeks that followed, the charge would shift. And more than once, by the way, it's not unusual for prosecutors to upgrade or downgrade charges, but this one's a little different. So at an August 7th hearing, prosecutors announced that they were dropping the first-degree murder charge and filing a different charge. Aggravated manslaughter of a child. Manslaughter, you know, reckless conduct.

It's different than murder. talking about intent. Six days later, changed again. They dropped the manslaughter charge and filed a new count. Second-degree murder. And that is where it currently stands. Now, the last time we covered this case, there was surveillance footage that had been released from the rental property. And it seemingly showed Aria in the days before she died, arriving with her mother, there's a food delivery, there's a diaper change. Then you have Aria being carried inside for the last time, ordinary moments, but knowing now how the story ends, this is very haunting to watch. And to understand why investigators saw something beyond just a tragic accident,

you have to understand the backdrop against which this whole situation unfolded. The backdrop is this custody battle that I mentioned before, a bitter one. Because back in Oklahoma, Gupta and her husband, her ex-husband, they were locked in, according to court records, these fights over primary custody, over daycare, over attorney's fees. But in the months that led up to that Florida trip, things just escalated. In April, Ari's father filed a motion to enforce a psychological evaluation of his ex-wife, Nihagupta, citing alarming behavior. The filing stated 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. The motion went further, asserting that Gupta's behavior led him to believe, quote, she has mental health issues that are not being treated, that an evaluation of her mental health is crucial to ensure the safety of the minor child. And then in May, an Oklahoma judge granted an emergency order, awarding temporary sole custody to the father. The reason stated was, quote, the court finds that an emergency exists and that the respondent will continue to interfere with medical treatment of the minor child. So that's what was going on when Gupta took Aria to Florida.

She was under a court order concerning medical interference, had a pending request for a psychological evaluation hanging over her, and had just lost temporary custody. And Gupta remains behind bars in Miami-Dade County, awaiting trial on that second-degree murder charge. I believe that that 911 phone call will be a key piece of evidence in her case. Her attorney maintains that Aria's death was just a tragic accident. Then investigators rushed to judgment. She's due back in court in May for a hearing. And if we find any updates, we'll make sure to cover them here on Sideball.

But that's all we have for you right now. Thank you so much for joining us. And as always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you should get your podcast. You can also follow us on NBC's Peacock. We have Sidebar episodes up there as well. If you want to follow me, X Instagram, my News Nation show, Jesse Weber Live, Monday through Friday, 11 p.m. Eastern.

I'll see you next time, everybody. I'm