The sad case of Sujatha, Chetana Guduru, in Florida.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: A brutal crime that took place earlier this week in a quiet suburb of Orlando has left a 17 year-old Indian American girl dead and her mother the likely murderer.
Sujatha Guduru, 44, is the lead suspect in a botched murder-suicide that occurred during the early morning hours of January 27 in her Oveido, Florida home.
According to investigators, Sujatha wanted to kill herself, but also decided that her daughter, Chetana, had to die too because there would otherwise be no one left to take care of her. Now, the tragedy has left her innocent daughter slain and the mother facing murder charges.
On January 21, Sujatha went to a local gun store and purchased a grey, .38-caliber revolver. Florida state law requires that upon purchasing a firearm, paperwork must be filled out and vetted for a period of three days before the customer can actually take the gun home with them. Police said that Sujatha indicated no history of mental illness on the paperwork, meaning there was no reason for the gun store not to let her have the gun.
Four days after the purchase, Sujatha returned to obtain the actual revolver. Details of what occurred over the next day-and-a-half remain murky, but what is known is that Sujatha was finalizing plans to end her own and her daughter’s lives.
At 5:00 A.M. on January 27, Sujatha woke up and typed an email to her brother, Prasad Chuttaluru, who told investigators that he received the email roughly 45 minutes after that. In it, Sujatha detailed her reasons for wanting to end her life and left instructions for how to divide her estate and possessions once she had departed.
Alarmed by the email, Chuttaluru left for his sister’s home. But by the time he got there around 7:20 A.M., he was too late – both Sujatha and Chetana had been shot. Sujatha apparently shot herself in the chest just moments after shooting her own daughter in the face, while she was still in bed.
And yet, neither mother nor daughter was dead. Immediately, Chuttaluru called 911 in a desperate attempt to save the two victims. He told dispatchers that both were still alive, and could see his niece gurgling blood as she struggled to stay alive.
By the time ambulances arrived and got both to the Orlando Regional Medical Center, little could be done to save Chetana. She died shortly thereafter, while Sujatha remains alive.
Chetana’s father, Rao Guduru, was not at home when the incident occurred, having been in Atlanta. It is not yet clear what his marital situation was with Sujatha, as reports only seem to indicate that he is the girl’s father but not the mother’s husband. He has declined to speak with the press regarding the matter.
Students at the girl’s high school, Seminole High School, were shocked to hear of their quiet, shy, but extraordinarily bright colleague’s death. Chetana was part of the International Baccalaureate (IB) program at her school, which offers harder courses for potential college credit in a system comparable to that of Advanced Placement (AP).
Her mother’s fate now lies with the courts. Speaking to the Orlando Sentinel, Assistant State Attorney Stacey Salmons said the case would be presented in front of a grand jury, at which point Sujatha will be formally indicted. Salmons gave no indication that there would be any problem getting the case to court for prosecution, presumably meaning that a defense plea for insanity will be difficult to prove.
Once she fully recuperates from her injuries, Sujatha will be transferred to Seminole County Jail, where she will remain for the duration of her trial. She is set to appear in court to face charges of first-degree murder, which carry with them a possible life sentence or the death penalty.
To contact the author, email to deepakchitnis@americanbazaaronline.com