A medical examiner told grand jurors the 14-month-old girl’s organs and tissues showed the effects of severe, sustained malnutrition.
LAS VEGAS — Evangelina Thrift was 14 months old when she died, but prosecutors say she weighed only about 9 pounds, a medical finding now at the center of the murder case against her mother, Alivia Bree Thrift.
The unusually low weight is one piece of a larger autopsy record that Clark County prosecutors say demonstrates prolonged starvation. Medical examiner Nathan Shaller testified before a grand jury that Evangelina’s organs showed severe malnutrition and dehydration and that her body had depleted the nutrients needed to sustain normal tissue. The medical examiner ultimately classified the March 24 death as a homicide caused by starvation. That determination prompted prosecutors to add a murder allegation to the child-abuse and neglect case already facing Thrift, 26, who has pleaded not guilty and remains jailed without bail.
Testimony about Evangelina’s growth made the severity of her condition measurable. The medical examiner said the girl was born at approximately 5 pounds and had gained only about 4 pounds in 14 months, according to reports based on the grand jury transcript. Her weight fell in roughly the first percentile for girls her age and was comparable to what would ordinarily be seen in a much younger infant. Prosecutors argue that such limited growth, combined with the condition of her organs and tissues, is inconsistent with a sudden decline. They contend the child’s body had been deprived of adequate nutrition for an extended period.
Shaller also described changes in Evangelina’s bone marrow and heart that he associated with the prolonged shortage of calories. When the body lacks sufficient food, prosecutors said the testimony showed, it eventually draws on its own stores to maintain vital functions. The medical examiner told grand jurors there was too little nutritional material available for normal replacement within the marrow. Reports of his testimony also described injury to the child’s heart muscle. Those findings are expected to be important because they give prosecutors a physiological timeline that they say supports the allegation of continuing deprivation rather than a single missed meal or short-term illness.
The medical record is especially significant because investigators apparently lacked the kind of routine pediatric history that might otherwise document Evangelina’s development. Grand jury testimony reported by news outlets indicated the child had not been regularly taken to a doctor. That left authorities without an ordinary series of weight checks, diagnoses or treatment notes to compare against the autopsy. Thrift’s half-sister, Robin Yager, testified that Evangelina frequently spit up formula and that she had raised the possibility that the formula itself might be causing problems. No underlying allergy or other medical explanation has been publicly established.
That gap creates one of the case’s most important distinctions: a possible feeding problem is not the same as a confirmed medical cause of the child’s extreme malnutrition. Yager said she encouraged Thrift to change the formula and obtain medical attention, but Thrift allegedly refused. Prosecutors contend those warnings show the mother had reason to know her daughter needed professional care. The defense, which has not yet presented its case to a jury, will have the opportunity to dispute both the meaning of those conversations and the state’s interpretation of the medical findings. Thrift’s not-guilty plea preserves those questions for trial.
The autopsy was not the only evidence presented to grand jurors. Police records described the Henderson apartment where Evangelina lived as cluttered and unsanitary, with trash and empty containers throughout the residence. Investigators reported insects in the home and dried vomit on items used by the baby, including a crib, bassinet and car seat. Evangelina’s body had insect bites and sores. Shaller testified that the location and appearance of some skin injuries were consistent with lengthy contact with irritating substances such as urine, feces, vomit or spoiled milk.
Those findings provide a separate dimension to the neglect allegation. The state is not relying solely on the fact that Evangelina was extremely underweight; prosecutors also point to the environment, hygiene conditions and alleged absence of medical care. Still, none of those circumstances by itself proves murder. The prosecution must connect the physical evidence to Thrift’s actions and establish the mental state required for the homicide charge. That legal task is one reason testimony about previous warnings from relatives is likely to receive close attention when the case reaches a jury.
Yager told grand jurors that her concerns became urgent in the period before Evangelina died. On the night of March 23 and into the early hours of March 24, she said she tried to persuade Thrift to take the child to a hospital or call emergency services. According to the reported testimony, Thrift worried that seeking treatment might lead authorities to remove Evangelina because of the girl’s size. Yager said she tried to convince her that medical help was necessary. She later went to the apartment after receiving what she described as frantic communications from her half-sister.
When Yager arrived, she said Thrift did not let her enter the apartment but instead brought Evangelina outside. Yager testified that the girl’s pale, grayish coloring and darkened lips led her to believe she had already died. A 911 call was made around 3:30 a.m. Police said the child’s body was already rigid and that emergency measures would not have been effective by the time first responders reached the scene. Thrift was initially arrested on a child-abuse, neglect or endangerment charge as investigators began documenting the apartment and awaiting the medical examination.
The homicide case developed later. Prosecutors have said investigators originally considered possibilities that included neglect or a caregiver’s failure to understand an undiscovered health condition. The autopsy caused that assessment to change. After the medical examiner concluded that starvation killed Evangelina, prosecutors presented the case to a Clark County grand jury in July. The panel indicted Thrift on murder and child abuse, neglect or endangerment resulting in substantial bodily harm. At a subsequent arraignment, Thrift pleaded not guilty and waived her right to a speedy trial.
At the July court proceeding, Deputy District Attorney Brianna Lamanna emphasized the signs of prolonged starvation visible in the medical findings, according to published accounts of the hearing. Prosecutors have alleged that the deprivation extended over a substantial portion of Evangelina’s life and was intentional. That allegation is more expansive than saying Thrift failed to recognize a medical emergency. It asserts criminal responsibility for the process that caused the child’s death. The burden remains on the state to prove that theory beyond a reasonable doubt, and an indictment does not establish guilt.
Thrift’s case is scheduled to move through additional pretrial proceedings before a jury is selected. The next trial readiness hearing is set for Oct. 22 and trial is scheduled for March 2027. Until evidence is presented and challenged in open court, the autopsy and grand jury testimony remain part of the prosecution’s case rather than a final judicial determination of Thrift’s conduct. The medical examiner’s ruling establishes the officially reported cause and manner of Evangelina’s death; the criminal trial will determine whether prosecutors can prove her mother committed the charged offenses.
Author note: Last updated September 9, 2026.